


Coming Back From Broken

by Nan119



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Family, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Philinda., Teen Skye
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:08:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 61,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nan119/pseuds/Nan119
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Teen Skye. Philinda. Skye and Melinda are broken. Can they help heal each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pieces.

**Author's Note:**

> Teen fic with Skye and Melinda as main characters. Philinda in an alternate universe. Will have tons of AOS characters some as adults, and some as teens.

She was broken. The pieces of her past had torn through her very being, forming her again, into a stoic, cold, and fearless women. That's what her outside showed everyone. She had learned to shut out hurts, pain and could mask her feelings as well as anyone. Her face never betrayed what she was thinking, or feeling. Her expressions consisting of more severe and less severe looks. 

That's who people saw. People who did not know her. Who did not see beyond the surface. That's how she wanted them to see her. 

Only one person ever saw that facade fade. Only when Melinda could not take it anymore, when it became too painful to hide, to hurtful to shut down, too broken to shield her heart. Only then did Phil Coulson see his wife break. And then he would come into her space, and he would hold her, and cry with her, and be there for her. 

What had happened shook her world to it's very core. Shook her to pieces that Phil almost could not put her back together. But he had. She had let him take her brokenness and she had let him wrap himself around her rips and scars and she had let him pick her up. 

Six years ago she had woken up one morning, happy, content, living the life she had always dreamed. Loving her husband and her career. Truly living a life full of wonder and amazement. Loving her child. Her amazing seven year old son. She'd had him later in life, already 35 years old. 

She was driving. It was raining and cold. It was nighttime. They had been at the movies. A Captain America movie. Her husband was a huge nerd who collected comic books. Captain America being his favorite comic hero. His geekness did not stop there though. Phil also was a Star Wars nerd, and he collected old model cars, putting them together and then naming them. He had told her when they first were dating it was the only way he'd ever own such a car, especially on his meager teacher salary. He taught social studies at the local high school. 

They had met at her best friends party. Rosalind Price had her annual going back to school party and Melinda had agreed to help her with preparation and ended up staying. Roz, who had been Melinda's best friend since college was principal of the high school. Melinda had been searching the house looking for Roz to bid her goodbye, when she literally ran into Phil Coulson. He had been carrying some trash he must have gathered and tripped into Melinda. After apologizing profusely and turning a few shades of red, which Melinda found endearing, they had struck up a conversation and their relationship blossomed from there. Soon they were an item, and soon after that they were married. 

What struck people about them was just how different they were. Melinda was quiet and reserved while Phil, well Phil was not. He was outgoing and smiled all the time, a quick wit, funny and full of life. He was a true geek, relishing in that identity. He was a conversationalist, a practical joker, the life of the party. His students truly loved him, as he brought history to life for them, his passion for it obvious to all.

What most people did not know was that Melinda was also keen on practical jokes, had a sarcastic wit only brought out with a few close friends, and was also a history buff. They shared a love for history, taking many trips to New England and to Virginia to walk the trails of American history. And although Melinda never admitted it, she too was a geek at heart. 

They had married ten years ago, and had their son three years after that. Phil and Melinda were completely in love, with each other and their son. They named him after Phil's father, James. James Phillip Coulson. They called him Jamey. 

She was driving. They had been to the 9:00pm show which was fine since it was a Friday night. The theatre showing the movie was forty-five minutes away. They were halfway home. It was raining, cold and late. As they passed under the stop light, the car slammed into them. The last thing Melinda remembered hearing that night was screaming. It wasn't until later she realized it had been her screams.

Melinda woke up in the hospital four days later. She had been put into a medically induced coma to help her brain swelling to go down. It did. The doctors told her she would make a full recovery. Her left arm was broken. her left ribs bruised with three cracked. Her facial lacerations and head injury would heal. Her body would heal. The doctors said with her being in top physical condition that she would heal quickly and she would have no lasting effects. She would heal. Her body would heal. 

Melinda knew something was horribly wrong when her father and mother, and Roz and Phil's younger sister Bobbi were all there. The news completely shattered her world. She would never see her beautiful son's smile again. Her husband was severely injured. Severe chest injuries. He might not make it. No Melinda thought. She would never heal. She would never recover. She was broken. Her soul was shattered into a million pieces. 

 

Skye woke up in yet another house. This one was owned by the Brody's. Jason and Anne Brody, and their two sons, JJ and Ryan. This was the fourth house she had stayed at in the last year. She sighed. She turned to look at the clock in the room. It said 5:30. She never slept well the first night in a new place. Skye thought back to the last meeting with her social worker and the psychologist at the group home. Broken. That's what they had said. She was broken. She was 14 years old and she was broken. They said she was running out of options and unless she wanted to spend the next 4 years in juvenile detention, she needed to stop being such trouble. She needed to fix what was broken and she needed to wise up. The Brody's were her last shot. 

Skye sat up and pulled her knees up and put her chin on them. It wasn't her fault all the foster homes were not a fit for her. That they were either people trying to find the perfect child or using her as a paycheck. The better ones using you as a paycheck at least fed you, left you alone and collected the money. The worst ones were the psychos who didn't feed you, beat you or even worse and collected the money. The perfect child lookers usually sent her back in a few weeks. She had yet to be in one of the good homes she'd heard some of the other kids talk about. She hadn't figured out the Brody's angle yet. 

Skye knew very little about where she came from. She knew she was half Chinese/half Caucasian . She knew she was 14 years old. She knew her mother had dropped her off at an orphanage when she was a baby, when she was 6 months old. She had been dressed in a pink onesie, covered in a yellow blanket with a note in Chinese from her mother saying she could not take care of her anymore. The note said she was half Chinese, and was 6 months old. She had been laying in a broken cradle. She was already broken then. All those details she had found out when she had hacked the system. 

Skye was really good with computers. She was able to hack into a lot of secure feeds. She once gave herself $200. But that was traced to her and spending 3 months in Juvenile detention cured her of that. Although she did learn how to pick locks and pickpocket pretty well in Juvie. She was decent at shoplifting too. So she only hacked for information anymore preferring to not go back to Juvie. If she really needed something she would just filch it. It was safer that way. 

Figuring she was not going to get more sleep, she decided to get up and take a shower, and get ready for school. Usually when she got put in a new home it was on the weekend but the group home was crowded and they pushed to get her out quickly. So here she was, on a Tuesday, going to a new school after spending the night in a virtual strangers house. Yeah her life was definitely broken. 

Skye was ready by seven and made her way to the kitchen. Jason Brody was there. He turned when he saw her enter and actually smiled at her.   
"School starts at 8:00. JJ and Ryan can walk with you to show you the way. You should eat something. We have cereal and bagels, help yourself."

"Okay. Thanks." She moved to the cupboard to get cereal. Finding choices she picked Corn Flakes, got out a bowl, after Mr. Brody showed her where they were, and poured the cereal. She got the milk out and poured that too. Hey, he was nice so far, and she got breakfast. Score two points for the Brodys.

"Oh here. Lunch money." He handed her 3 ones. "In case they didn't set up your free lunch account yet. One of the perks of foster care. Should be set up by tomorrow." He winked at her. Skye shrugged. Yeah one of the perks. Free lunch courtesy of the state. One of the foster benefits. 

After a few minutes, the two Brody sons came down and soon Skye found herself walking to school with them. The oldest JJ, a junior, actually escorted her to the school office before going to his own class. She entered the office and was soon called in by a guidance counselor to fill out paperwork and get her schedule. An hour later Skye was headed down the hall to her second period class, American History. 

Melinda was doing her Tai Chi when Phil stuck his head in the room. She was in the study which she had turned into a workout room more than a study. He walked over and leaned against the desk watching her go through her routine. He smiled. She frowned at him, and raised her eyebrow. 

''Sorry to disturb you Mel, but I wanted to remind you about the appointment. Four o'clock. I'll meet you there, since I am coming right from school."

Melinda grimaced. "Is that today?" She knew it was. She just wasn't sure she wanted to do this anymore. After all Phil had talked her into it. She had only said yes to appease him and get him to stop bugging her.

"Come on Mel. We talked about this." 

"Actually Phil, you talked and I gave in cause you wouldn't let it go."

"Mel. This will be good for us. For you. And it is a good way to see if we want to go further. Being emergency foster parents is a first step. You agreed. You agreed to at least come to the meeting."

Melinda stopped her motions and sighed. "Okay Phil. I said I'd come with you. That's all I promised. I'll be there." 

He got up and walked to his wife. He reached to embrace her. They held on to each other till Melinda pulled away. "I have to shower and get ready for work. I have a 8:30 class." She reached in to kiss him. "Bye Phil. Have a good day. I'll be there." 

Phil smiled as her watched her leave the room. He wanted so bad to just make her whole again. To see that smile more. To hear her laugh. He needed to fix her. He just didn't know how. Phil made his way out to his car, got in and drove the short distance to the high school. He pulled into his parking spot and walked into the building, smiling and greeting everyone on his way. He made it to his classroom just before the bell rang. First period was his free period. He got out his lesson plan and sat down to review it before his second period class would make their way in. It was his favorite class to teach. Honors American History. He enjoyed teaching all his classes, including World History and Government but American History was by far his favorite. 

The dismissal bell rang and soon students were coming into his classroom. Everyone was present as he walked over to close the door. Before he could close it, a girl he had never seen before walked in the classroom and handed him a paper. He looked at the paper and smiled. A new student. 

"Welcome Mary Sue Poots to American History. I'm Mr. Coulson. 

She frowned at him. "Skye. I go by Skye. If you call me that other name, I won't answer." Skye figured she'd get it out there right away. Most teachers were jerks and called her Mary Sue anyway. But at least she put them on notice. 

Phil looked back at the girl. He walked forward and pointed to an open seat in the second row. 

"Class, we have a new student joining us. Everyone say hi to Skye."

She froze for a second, her mask coming down. She glanced back up at the teacher who was grinning at her. She smiled and sat down. Maybe, just maybe she wasn't fully broken yet.


	2. Something New

Interesting. That was one word that described History class. Strange would be another. Skye sat in her 3rd period English class recalling the previous class in her mind. Mr. Coulson was pretty cool. He was actually funny, not one of those teachers who thinks he's funny and is a an actual joke, but he was really funny. His anecdotes and insights were impressive. Skye couldn't remember any class she had ever taken where her mind was occupied from start to finish. She hadn't even watched the clock once. She looked forward to tomorrow's class. 

Now however sitting in Honors English, she was bored to tears. The teacher was small, older, and quite monotone. Skye had tuned her out ages ago. Instead she was flipping through the syllabus and seeing how far behind she was. She was surprised to see that the book they were currently reading, and the teacher was droning on about apparently, was Catcher In the Rye. She had already read the book so that was a plus. She scanned the list of other books and was surprised to find all but one she had already read. Hey, between that good news and Coulson's class, the ok morning at the Brody's - this day was turning out to be one of her best. The bell sounded, so she worked her way out of the room with the rest of the class. 

As they were in the hallway, Skye turned to go left while apparently someone else turned right at the exact same time. They collided. Skye dropped her notebook and class schedule paper, and saw the other person had dropped a few books and papers had scattered everywhere. 

She bent down to pick up her stuff and nearly collided with a head. A head full of curly blond hair and an exasperated face. "Ugh, sorry. I should have looked better." The voice had an accent that sounded English, but not quite. 

"No it's okay dude. Totally my fault. I was looking down trying to find my next classroom number. Here let me get that." Skye reached around in front of her and grabbed the loosed papers and handed them back to the boy. They stood up.

"I'm Skye." 

"Fitz. What class you looking for?" 

Skye looked at him. "You're not English, so........"

"Scottish. I'm born and bred in Glasgow. Me mom came here to the states with her company. Transfer. My second year here. And you?" 

"Ah, just moved in. Yesterday. So where is the computer science lab, uh Fitz? That your real name?" 

"Yah. Last name. What everyone calls me. Leopold is my first name."

"Well, Leo what say you show me where the computer lab is, eh." 

Fitz dropped her off in front of the computer lab and walked the short distance up the hall to the bio/chem labs. Skye watched him go into a door, and then turned and entered hers. She was late. All eyes turned to her. The teacher motioned for her to come toward his desk. Skye showed him her schedule that she belonged here. 

"You're a freshman? This class is mostly upperclassmen. You sure you belong here? It's the highest level computer class at this school." Skye felt the class stirring and watching her. 

"Yeah I'm sure. Computers are like my thing. I aced all the other classes you offer at my other school, and this is the only one I haven't taken yet." 

The teacher did not look convinced but was obviously done talking with her about it. He would probably check with the office later. 

"Okay for now. There is an empty computer over there by the window. Take that one for today." Yeah he was definitely gonna check her out. Skye slid her body into the computer chair and turned on the computer in front of her. The guy sitting next to her leaned over. "Go Tigers." 

She looked at him raising her eyebrows. He responded to her inquiry. "Password." He smiled at her. He was tall and good looking. Also looked older. "Trip. My names' Trip". Skye grinned. So far she had met a Fitz and a Trip. She quirked her eyebrow at him. 

"Trip?"

He smiled. "Antoine Triplet." 

"Ah that makes sense." She smiled and went back to paying half attention to the teacher while she logged on the computer and started playing around. The teacher came over a handed her a packet after a little while and told her to start working on it. She looked around and everyone was busy with their packets working on their computers. The teacher walked away. Asshole, she thought, wouldn't even tell me where they were at. Trip picked up his packet and showed her the page. Ah, page 16. 

"Thanks dude." 

Trip smiled. "So you have a name?" 

"Skye." She went back to work, but could feel Trip and some of the other kids staring at her from time to time. She started at the beginning of the packet and got up to page 13 before the bell rang. She looked at her schedule to see where she was going. 5th period. Lunch. She prepared herself mentally for going to the lunchroom. The dreaded place of oneupmanship, class hierarchy, cliques and drama. But she had 3 bucks and a growling stomach so ........... she put her best I don't give a crap face on and headed to the cafeteria. 

She got in line and checked everything out. The line she was in was for the school lunch only. The other one to her left was the ala carte line with sandwiches, soups, salads and snacks. She knew 3 bucks wouldn't by much over there. Besides, she reasoned, she'd be going through this one for free meals anyway and might as well get used to it. As she got closer she read the board which had the choices on it. Chicken tenders with rolls or pizza, two veggie choice, two fruits, and milk. She took the chicken with rolls as her entre' and moved to the veggies choosing a salad cup that had lettuce and tomatoes, and mashed potatoes with gravy. She passed the milk cooler and grabbed a chocolate milk. Next was the fruit where she chose applesauce and a banana. She got in the cashier line. The cashier rang up her food. It cost only $2.95. She paid, got her nickel in change plus ranch dressing, and honey mustard sauce for her chicken. She made her way to the tables and found a space open at one. She sat down. She looked at her food and was amazed at how much she got. Last school she was at didn't offer this much. She took a chicken tender and dipped it in honey mustard and took a bite. Not bad. Edible. She smiled and dug in only to be interrupted a few moments later. 

"Hey. That's our table." Uhoh. That was not good. Skye looked up to see an angry face staring at her. "Um we always sit there, and we have no other place to sit. Why can't you people let us alone?" The girl's face went from angry to sad. She had an accent. What was it with accents at this school thought Skye. 

Skye waved her hand apologetically pointing around. "Hey I just wanted to eat. No one was here, so I................."

"Hello Skye." Fitz had come up behind the girl and was looking at her with a smile. He turned to the girl. "She's not one of them Simmons. She's new." He turned back to Skye. "Stay. This is Simmons. You'll like each other." Fitz pulled the chair out from the table and sat down across from her. 

"So Simmons, huh?" Skye looked at her expectantly and cracked a half smile. Are you Scottish too, like him."

"Bah, I'm English, from Devonshire. And it's Jemma. Fitz is the only one who calls me Simmons." Jemma sat down next to Fitz. 

"Skye. Pleased to meet you Jemma. I'm half Chinese." 

"Yes, okay. Why did you say that?" 

Skye cocked her head. Well I don't want to be left out. You know. Being different. Ugh, never mind. So how long have you been here." 

"Oh this is my third year. I live with my Aunt Vic while I'm here studying. My parents do missions work with Doctors Without Borders. So........I stay here most of the time. For school."

"Cool." Skye smiled at Jemma who returned it with her own smile. Skye went back to eating her food, while both Fitz and Simmons did the same. A few minutes later, a boy pulled the chair out next to Skye and sat down. Skye stared at him and he looked at her. His eyes were fearful. 

"Hey Thomas. This is Skye. She's new. She's sitting with us for lunch now." Skye looked at Fitz and grinned. He was so matter of fact about it as if she had already agreed. Why not? It's not like she had anywhere else to sit. 

Thomas nodded and spoke quietly. "Hello Skye. I'm Thomas. Thomas Ward." 

"Hey." 

"So Skye, where are you from?" Jemma asked her. 

"Come from St. Agnes. Staying at a foster home. The Brody's."

` Fitz nearly spit out his milk. "Theeeee.........Bro..oooo..dy's. Not JJ, JJ Brody?"

"Yeah that's them. JJ and Ryan. Anne and Jason actually, you know the parents." She looked at Leo. His mouth was comically wide open staring at her aghast. She almost laughed at his expression till she saw Jemma, who was staring at her wide eyed with a look of horror across her face. Skye turned to look at Thomas, who looked back with the same look as Jemma. 

"Whaaaat??" 

Jemma shook her head to gather herself together. "JJ Brody is .....well....he's ........he's........the star football player, and one of the most popular kids around. He gets away with everything, the teachers love him." 

Skye looked at her trying to understand. "Yeah, so.........."

"We are his main targets. Well, not just us, but all the smarter kids. The science kids. The non popular kids." 

Thomas spoke up. " He's just a bully. A first class jerk."

Jemma continued. "He plays the game Skye. Teachers buy everything he says. He and his friends are royalty and the rest of us...well, we just try to stay out of their way." 

Skye frowned. She tried reconciling the JJ she had seen just this morning, the one who walked her to school and talked nice to her and smiled as he dropped her at the office with the guy her new found friends had described. 

"Sorry Skye. But he's a jerk. Maybe it's best you find somewhere else to sit for lunch tomorrow." Jemma looked at her sadly. 

Skye nodded. Yeah. It was probably too good to be true. Thinking she might have made a couple friends here. 

"Oh fiddlesticks Jemma. Just cause JJ's a jerk, doesn't mean we can't still be friends with Skye. You are just afraid."

"Yeah well last time any of us crossed JJ it wasn't pretty, Fitz. Or did you forget already?' 

"What happened?" Skye wanted to know. 

"JJ wanted Fitz to do a science project for him. Fitz said no."

Thomas continued. "Leo ended up with a broken arm." 

"Seriously?" Skye raised her eyebrows at Leo. 

He nodded. "Yah. He ordered me to do it, and never thought I wouldn't so the day it was due, he asked for it, I told him to bugger off, and after school walking home I was jumped. Never saw a face but three of them put me in the hospital, broke my arm. We all know it was JJ and his friends."

"JJ basically admitted it to me, but no one could prove anything." Thomas spoke again. "He wanted to make sure we all got his message, loud and clear." 

Just then the bell rang. Skye realized she hadn't finished so she shoved in a few more mouthfuls of food. They all got up and took their trays to the return counter, and left for their next class. Skye found herself next to Leo, as Thomas and Jemma followed them. 

"What's your next class Skye?" Jemma asked. 

Skye checked the paper she grabbed from her pocket. "Geometry, room 205." 

"That's upstairs in the new wing. Come on I'll show you, I have Trig next door." Thomas gave her a smile, so she followed him to the steps to the second floor while Jemma and Leo continued down the hallway. 

"See you later Skye," said Jemma as Leo waved to her. 

"Yeah thanks.See you around." She turned back and followed Thomas up the steps. 

 

Melinda glanced at the clock in her gym. It said 3:00. She needed to get a move on if she was going to be on time for that meeting. She took a quick shower, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and then locked up the gym. She drove to the Social Services building and parked her SUV. She saw Phil's jeep already parked and hustled into the building . Sighing outside the office of Sharon Carter, she leaned into the door. She heard voices coming from inside, recognizing Phil's. She knocked once and then opened the door. 

Phil looked up as the door opened to see his wife enter. She had a smile on her face, but he knew it was forced. For a moment he felt bad about coercing her into coming. Then his resolve kicked in. His wife needed this. 

"Hi honey." He stood up as she walked toward him. He kissed her on her cheek. "Sharon Carter, this is my wife Melinda." 

Melinda held out her hand and they shook. Sharon Carter smiled at her. "Nice to finally meet you Mrs. Coulson. Please, both of you have a seat so we can continue. As I was just telling your husband, we are in desperate need of good foster homes. So many children and teens are looking for a place to belong. A place to call their own. Thank you both for being willing to step up for them."

Melinda raised her eyebrow at Phil. "I thought we were just going to be emergency short term foster care, Phillip." 

"Oh yeah we are Mel. But Sharon thought we could extend that and apply as well for long term placement at the same time in case we ever want to do that. All the paperwork would be on file and we wouldn't have to do it again. You know. Just in case." 

"Phil I do not want to be a parent. Not any more. You know that." 

"Well Mrs. Coulson, we understand you just agreed to the short care program. But filing for long term care is not much different and we all could benefit from it. So we are not locked into a only 6 week period. I mean suppose we have a long term home but they cannot take the child for a week and your 6 weeks ran out. This assures that the child would not have to be moved so much and be much less stressful." Phil nodded. 

Melinda looked at him skeptically. "That true? That's all?"

"Well yes it's true Mel. But I will be honest. I hope one day you change your mind and we can have another child. Since we are both older, it seems fostering would be a good way to go. And in the process we help a child looking for a home too."

"Phil." Her tone was one of warning. 

"But for now Mel please let's just do this. I promise it is mostly for the reason Sharon stated. I promise to not bug you about more than that. At least for a while." He grinned at her. 

She sighed clearly exasperated. But she nodded. "Okay what do I have to sign and what information do you need." She looked to Sharon Carter. 

Sharon Carter helped them fill out all the remaining forms and had them sign everything. She had already cleared them with the State and they had passed with flying colors. She watched as they signed, and hoped that whatever demons prevented Melinda Coulson from being a parent would be resolved, since they were in such desperate need of good, stable homes for these kids. She was just glad another prominent couple had decided to step up as well. She herself had placed Mary Sue Poots with the Brody's. Her thoughts went to the young girl, so broken and yet so hopeful. Skye, she reminded herself. She preferred to be called Skye. Sharon smiled as she remembered the young intelligent girl completely ignoring her until she called her by the nickname her caseworker had provided for her knowledge. Then the girl had delighted her with her wit, sarcasm, and knowledge. She prayed that the girl would find her permanent home with the Brody's. 

 

 

That night Melinda laid awake, unable to sleep again. Hours later she finally fell into a restless sleep and woke up screaming. Phil held her tightly, calming her down and talking soothing words to her. He didn't have to ask. It was the same nightmare she had over and over. The same one he sometimes had as well. 

 

Skye laid in bed typing on her computer. She was trying to hack into a secure server. She finally broke through without detection. She typed in the date and place and name. A file appeared on her screen. Except she couldn't read it. Most of the words were blacked out. The bottom of her screen read redacted. She stared at the screen for a few minutes. Redacted? What the literal hell. Who was she and why was everyone hiding it? She sighed in frustration as she tried to find the same file in an un-redacted document. Nothing worked. She frowned and tried a few more tricks. She caught a slight sound and quickly switched off the screen. Someone walked past her bedroom door. After they moved by she noticed it was 2am. She shut off her laptop, and shoved in under her bed. She turned over and tried to shut down her mind to get some sleep. She drifted off wondering why she was in a redacted file. A few hours later, Skye woke up drenched in sweat and her heart racing. She sat up and tried to calm down. She hadn't had that dream for awhile. Her mind slowly adjusted to the present as the terror of her dream faded. She hugged her arms around her legs and sat in silence waiting for the sun to rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skye meets new some friends. Melinda agrees to try something new. How will these impact their brokenness? Next chapter coming up soon.


	3. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye leans stuff and encounters more students. She has definitely had better days.

It was a colder day then yesterday as Skye walked to school with Ryan. JJ had left earlier to get to a team football meeting so it was just her and Ryan. He was kind of quiet and had barely spoken to her since she had arrived. 

Skye decided to play spy a bit. "So Ryan, JJ is captain of the football team huh? What position does he play?"

"Yeah he is. He's the quarterback. He's good. They won the first four games. He also plays baseball." 

"So you play football too?" 

He shook his head. "Nope. Don't do sports. That's JJ's thing. Not mine."

"So what's your thing then Ryan?"

"Uh, I don't know. I just try to get good grades. I was in chorus and band in Middle School but JJ said it was for sissies so..........." 

"You don't do them now that your in high school."

"Yeah I tried sports but was never very good. Everyone thought I should be, you know cause of JJ, but I always disappointed the coaches. I do run cross country and do track. Just running. I'm not a superstar or anything but I made the team. Dad says it looks good on college applications, and looks good for him and his perfect little family."

Skye raised her eyebrows. His last statement was curious but she decided to ask a safe question. "So what instrument did you play Ryan?" 

"Sax. I was good too. I still play at home. So what do you do Skye?" 

"Um...as little as possible." She laughed and he joined in. 

"Well my dad will probably expect you to get involved in something. He likes everything to reflect well on his image." 

"Seriously? Cause all I am really good at is computers. Like super good. I do okay in other classes if I like the class." She paused for a beat and then continued. "Why do you think they took me in?" She stopped walking and turned to him.

He stopped when Skye moved in front of him. He looked at her, then he looked down at his shoes. "You are his new project Skye. His way of telling the world what a great guy he is. Taking in some stray kid makes his image better. He's running for State Senator. He's going to announce his candidacy in a few weeks."

Skye was stunned. "You are kidding?" 

"I wish I was. Everything Jason Brody does has a reason. He is a manipulative son-of-a-bitch. Mom hates that you're here. JJ does too but he'll toe the line and do whatever Jason wants. Mom will just drink more. JJ will act all nice around you but behind your back....... just be careful Skye."

"What about you Ryan? How do you feel about me being in your house?" 

He grinned at her. "Right now, great. My family is trying to be sort of normal. And the focus is on you. Which means my dad is not on my case about my everything, and JJ doesn't slam me about my choice of friends. Mom just ignores me in favor of the drink as usual. And apparently I now have someone to talk to." He laughed. She joined in. They continued walking to school.

"So Ryan, why doesn't JJ like your friends?" 

"Cause they are nerds. Like me. He thinks I hang with the wrong crowd. He and Grant are always trying to get me and Thomas to be more cool. Problem is we like being nerds. At least Thomas stayed in the band. He stood up to everyone in his family. And Grant at least cares about him. JJ hates me."

"Whoa, hold up." Skye stopped walking again. "Thomas? Do you mean Thomas Ward?" 

He also stopped and looked at her. "Yeah. How'd you know his last name?" 

"I sat next to him at lunch. At the table. With Leo and Jemma." 

"Of course you did." He smiled. Skye did remind him a bit of his friends. "Yeah I wish I ate first lunch, but I needed to take Bio that period. The others all took Bio back in eighth grade. I opted to take Geometry instead. Thomas, Leo and Jemma are my best friends. That's why JJ is always on my case." Ryan took a breathe and then checked his watch. 

"Hey we better get a move on or we'll be late for first period." He started down the block leading into the school driveway. 

"Ryan? Did your brother and his friends beat up Leo and break his arm?" Ryan came to a stop. He shook his head and turned back to face Skye. 

"No. Not JJ. Just his friends. JJ doesn't like to get his hands dirty if he can help it. I've never forgiven him for it."

"So you and JJ getting along............."

"Yeah Skye. All an act. I hate him and he hates me. I gotta go. See you after school." He turned and jogged up the drive to the school entrance. Skye followed behind, slower, weaving in and out of the other students. She felt someone watching her and turned to her right to look. There was a group of kids sitting on the concrete wall lining the walkway. They were all staring at her. Not good she thought. Just keep walking Skye, just keep....

One of the girls stepped out in front of her. She had to stop. She stared back at the pretty dark haired girl in the flower dress. 

"So you're JJ's new sister." Skye knew it wasn't a question, so she waited not saying anything. "You know JJ isn't happy you are in his house." 

"Yeah well that's his problem." 

"Actually no. It is going to be yours. You better just do what he says sweetie, or well let's just say ...........we all, " she pointed to around 15 boys and girls, "we all have his back. Don't think we don't know who you are paling around with. Believe me Skye, we'll be watching."

Skye looked at her. She couldn't help it. She started laughing. All she could see in her mind was a bad teen film. She laughed harder.

'Oh god are you going to sick your jocks and cheerleaders on me and my nerd friends?" She laughed harder doubling over holding her stomach. "Cause.... thhhheeee..... smmmmart nerds always winnnn.... in every movie ever made." She managed to say between her laughter.

All the other kids around were paying attention. Skye straightened up and took a deep breathe. "Listen Flowers. Just stay the hell away from me and leave me and my friends alone. Go back to your teen whatever and your drama and don't ever get in my face again. Kapeesh?" A red headed girl stood up and moved to stand next to the girl in the flower dress. 

"Raina, Alicia, is everything okay here?" Phil Coulson knew trouble when he saw it starting. "Hello Skye. Making new friends already I see." 

Skye grinned. "Yeah Mr. C. Everyone is just so friendly."

Raina and the others started to disperse. Raina glanced back at Skye and smirked at her. " Oh Skye. Don't forget what we talked about. JJ will probably remind you later." 

Skye's smile disappeared as she watched Raina walk into the building. Phil was still standing there. "You know Skye, I don't pretend to know what's going on, but that looked like potential trouble. If you need to talk or need help you can go to guidance or the principal or any of us teachers. Okay?" 

She smiled at her favorite teacher. "It's all good Mr.C. Just a little misunderstanding. I'll fix it when I see JJ later at home. See you in class."  
Skye walked into the building and headed to the gymnasium. She had ninth grade fitness class first period, the class she had missed yesterday. She hated freaking gym class. This day was fast turning into a crappy one. 

Phil entered the building and decided to go to the teacher's lounge before heading to his classroom. He walked in and headed to the keurig machine and searched the flavor options. Settling on french vanilla, he popped the container in the machine, placed a cup under it and pressed the button. 

"Gotta get your fix of coffee here or does Melinda let you drink it in her house now? "

Phil turned to see Rosalind Price sitting at one of the tables nursing her own mug of coffee. 

He waved his hand. "Mel drinks coffee occasionally now Roz. You'd know that if you stopped by more often. What has it been, a few months?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I hear it enough from Mel when she calls. So how are your classes going this year Phil? Already six weeks into the new school year, can you believe it?"

Phil grabbed his cup and sat down at the same table. "Good actually. Pretty good bunch of Freshman this year. My America History classes, of course my favorite, are good. Which by the way, I sure wish........."

"Oh shut up Phil. You say the same thing every year. You have to teach at least one class of World History and one of Government. It's already bad enough I get so many parents calling to put their kids in your classes instead of my other very fine Social Studies teachers'. "

"I can't help it I'm popular Roz." 

She laughed. "Sure Phil. There's always a first for everyone. I remember your nerd was strong when we both went here."

"In the dark ages you mean, right." They both laughed. 

"Things sure have changed. Back then the worst thing was being worried about getting shoved into a locker by the cool kids. Now they break arms."

"Phil. We had an investigation. The police could not find evidence. And the kids all clammed up. What am I supposed to do?" 

"I don't know Roz. I know it sucks. Some of these kids are bullied and won't speak up. Then we have a few teachers here, like Malick and Garrett who not only look the other way but encourage it."

"Well Phil, you need to be careful what you say too. You have no proof of that. No evidence. Just cause they are jerks doesn't make them liable for what kids do."

He raised his eyebrows at her and smirked. "Please Roz. Their attitudes and compliance in some of these matters is almost criminal. I don't care who Malick's brother is or how much power he has."

They both grew quiet as the door opened. Stepping inside was one of the school aides. "Ms. Price. Nurse Connor asked me to get you. Something happened in first period gym class."

Roz raised her eyebrow at Phil and got up to follow the aide out the door with Phil close behind, both coffees forgotten about. They walked briskly to the nurse's office. Upon entering they were greeted with two kids sitting on the cot and one in a chair next to the cot. The nurse was holding a cloth to the bleeding nose of one Thomas Ward, sitting on the cot who also appeared to have a welt on his forehead. Next to him was Jemma Simmons who was sporting a cut lip and scratches under her chin. On the chair, was Skye. She had a black and blue cheek and a sizable welt on her neck. She was also holding an ice bag on her left wrist with her right hand. 

"Mrs. Connor. What happened here."

Four pair of eyes looked at the principal. Phil watched Skye and saw hers blazing with anger. 

"I'm not sure. Mr. Garrett and Miss Davis walked all three in here a few minutes ago. Said they got hurt in gym class. They left and I sent Mrs. Green to get you. I need accident reports filled out for all three and we may want to call Thomas's parents and hers since her wrist may be broken." She pointed to Skye. 

"Accident my ass." 

Phil looked at Skye. So did Roz. She spoke to her. "Are you claiming this was done on purpose, um..........Miss.."

"Skye." Phil finished. "Her name is Skye. She started yesterday and is in my second period history class. 

They continued staring at Skye. She looked at Thomas and Jemma. Thomas was smiling at her and shaking his head. Jemma would not meet her eyes. 

"What exactly did you mean by that, Skye?" Rosalind Price walked closer to the girl and stood in front of her. 

"Nothing."

"So tell us what happened then. How did you, all of you get injured in gym class." 

"Dodge ball should be fucking banned from schools." 

Roz glanced back at Phil. "Please control your language. Skye, was it? What's your last name." Skye simply stared at her. 

"Um Mrs. Price could I talk to you." Phil motioned to go into the other room next to them. Roz nodded and followed. Phil closed the door. 

"She's new Roz. Names Mary Sue Poots. Won't answer to it. Goes by Skye. She's a foster kid. I dug a little yesterday. She's staying with the Brody's." 

"Jason and Anne? JJ Brody?" 

"Yes. Those Brody's. She's very smart Roz. Jumped right in to what I was teaching about and answered a few questions. She's taking all Honors classes and she's even in Malicks' high computer class reserved mostly for upperclassman. I checked her grades. In computer classes and what looks like ones she cares about - she has like 100's, straight A's. The others are B's. Her discipline record is pretty interesting. Mostly marked as having a bad attitude, talking back and skipping class. No violence." 

"So what do you think happened?" 

"I saw Raina and Alicia giving her a hard time before school today. She shrugged it of and basically told me to mind my own business." 

"So how do we proceed? If kids are being bullied or targeted Phil, we need to stop it. But the kids have to speak up." 

"Well for starters call her Skye. Then let me talk to her. You talk to Thomas and Jemma. Jemma's too afraid most likely but maybe Thomas has had enough. His brother hangs with Raina and Alicia and that crowd." 

She nodded her agreement and they both went back to the other room. 

"Skye how about you follow me and we talk about what happened." Phil motioned to the room he had just vacated. She looked at him, shrugged and got up. She walked into the room with Phil close behind. He left the door slightly ajar. Skye slumped into a chair and looked expectantly at Phil.

"Yeah so Mr. C. what do you want to talk about." Her voice dripped with attitude. so much so Phil had to smile 

"How about the truth? Just tell me what happened." 

She smirked at him. 'Long or short version?" 

"Any version would work."

Skye sighed and then took a deep breathe. She looked up at Phil who had a very calm expression and a caring one. Like he actually cared. His eyes looked compassionate. That was not common in the teachers she knew. 

"Short version then. I hate gym. Thomas and Jemma hate gym too. In fact, most high schoolers except for jocks hate gym Mr. C. It's a form of torture that should have been outlawed years ago." Phil smiled. 

Skye continued. "First period gym is especially brutal. Coming in to school, tired, not enough sleep, cause face it Mr. C - teens stay up way too late and then after dressing for school and just getting there on time, one has to undress in front of other kids, virtual strangers, put on gym type clothing and then march out to face the music." 

"You make it sound like a firing squad Skye." She looked at him and pointed, nodding. 

"Yep. Good analogy." Phil laughed. 

"Then we get to wait to see what wonderful type of torture the gym teacher has thought up for the day. Will it be running for no damn reason? Will it be shooting baskets in that hoop thing most of us miss? Will it be lining up to count by twos to play volleyball or hockey, two games I still have no idea what the rules really are. Or maybe indoor soccer so we can limp around the remainder of the day with sore shins. Or that tried and true game of capture the flag, where only 3 kids from each team actually care and the rest of us sit by the wall thankful it isn't the dreaded dodge ball."

Phil was full on laughing now. "I thought you said this was the short version."

"Do not interrupt. It'll take longer." She grinned at him. Dodge ball. The game invented by masochists that truly only bullies and hardcore jocks love. The game where the mere mention makes stomachs queasy and knees knock. People have died playing dodgeball, Mr. C." 

Skye paused, took a deep breathe and continued. "We picked teams. Of course super jock gym teacher picked his captains. Jemma, Thomas and I ended up on the same team. With a lot of other none jocks. Kids with high IQ's but not high speed or high power. The captain and his two friends got out right away. Then the other team got out all the other kids. Even though Jemma, Thomas and me were open to get hit, they didn't hit us. Until we were the only three left. Then 20 or so balls came at us at the same time. Hard. Mostly aimed at our heads. I pushed Jemma out of the way and she fell and a ball bounced off the floor onto her face, skimmed over it, hence the skid marks across her chin. I saw two balls headed for my head and threw up my arm for protection. Both hit the same spot, on my wrist." She held it up for emphasis, then continued. "As I was holding my wrist and trying to get off the playing area, another ball struck me here on my cheek." She put two fingers to the black and blue welt. The she touched her neck. "I don't even know how this one happened. Thomas saw another one coming at my face and stepped in front of me. That's how he got the bloody nose. I don't think they meant for him to get it that bad. Just me. Lucky me." 

Skye stopped and looked at the teacher for his reaction. "I guess that was the long version after all." 

Phil's emotions as Skye was talking went from disbelief to anger. He didn't doubt her story one bit. It flowed too easy and too full of emotion to be made up. "I'm sorry Skye." 

She jerked her head up to look at him. "Why? Why are you sorry." 

"Because no one should ever be bullied or targeted. Ever. Please tell me their names so it can stop." 

Skye laughed. "Stop. Please. If I tell you names it will only get worse. Do you know what the gym teacher said to me when he came over after he realized I was really hurt? He said I should have caught the ball. If I wasn't such a wuss I could have won." 

Phil saw red. He had never liked John Garrett. He was a jock through and through, and favored the athletes, and he was kind of dumb but this was crossing the line. 

"He had no right to say that to you. Or to let those kids do that. He should be punishing them. Hopefully Jemma and Thomas back up what you told me. We can fix this Skye."

She smiled. He was a really nice teacher but had no clue. "It'll never be fixed Mr.C. The big strong jocks always rule in high school. Wasn't it like that back when you went."

Phil nodded. "To a degree maybe. But they weren't cruel Skye. They were just jerks. I think here at our school the line into cruel has been crossed." 

Just then there was a knock on the door. Roz walked in and made her way over to Phil. She looked at Skye. Phil spoke to her, "So what did Jemma and Thomas say?" 

Skye watched Ms Price. She looked pissed. So they must have said nothing to her like they told her they were gonna do. She frowned. 

"Nothing. They said nothing. At least nothing of value. Jemma went on and on about needing to be better at gym class, and Thomas said outright he wasn't talking. No matter how much I tried to get him to all he said was he should have been paying better attention in the game. What about you?" 

Phil looked at Skye who turned away. He saw the disappointment flash before she masked it with indifference. "Skye says it was deliberate. But she knows it's her word against everyone else."

"How was it deliberate?" 

Skye looked up at her. "Does it even matter? I'm the new kid. Been here one day. I also know what's in my records. Both the school one and the social service one. No one will ever pick me against them. No one will believe me. Everyone is too afraid. Hell, I'm afraid." 

"I believe you Skye." Phil spoke up.

She smiled. "Thanks. Now if only you knew a good self defense teacher." 

He laughed. Ms. Price laughed as well. Skye looked at them both with a puzzled expression. Phil spoke up. "I'm married to one." 

Skye looked surprised. "Really?" She smiled. How weird was that? 

"I really need to get back to my office. Phil your class started but while I was out there trying to talk to Thomas I sent Mrs. Green to stay with the class. Skye, the nurse is filling out your paperwork and Mrs. Brody was called. You will need x-rays for your wrist." 

Skye nodded and followed them into the room. Jemma and Thomas had already gone. Ms. Price walked out the door. Phil turned to Skye as she sat down in the chair by the nurse's desk. 

"You know my wife has been looking for someone to clean her gym. Couple hours a week. Maybe give you some lessons instead of paying you. She teaches all kinds of Martial Arts disciplines. I mean if you were interested." 

Skye looked at his concerned face. He reached into his pocket and got out a card. He handed it to her. She read it. 'Melinda's Place - Martial Arts Instruction'. It had a phone number on it. "Give her a call if interested. I'll mention you to her. If you are serious I mean. She is the best." Skye placed the card in her pocket and turned her attention to the nurse who wanted to re- check her wrist. She wondered if Mrs. Brody would be pissed off or not.


	4. Not polished and far from smooth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A special meeting.

Phil pulled out of the high school parking lot and headed to his wife's gym. Twenty minutes later he pulled into the small parking lot next to Melinda's SUV. It was almost 5:00 so parents would soon be picking up the kids from her last class of the day. It was Wednesday, one of her early nights. This day she taught classes for the local police and state police, except for her 4pm class which was a novice kids judo class. He had stayed later than usual at school, waiting to hear from Mrs. Brody and Skye and talking to Roz and Maria Hill, the guidance counselor. All three believed Skye was not lying and their concern over a teacher who would allow such behavior from his students was growing. Phil was certain that although he may not have instigated the behavior, by his inaction is stopping it, John Garrett condoned it. He wanted to confront Garrett but both Maria and Roz thought that wasn't a good idea yet. They needed more information and they needed strong evidence. Getting the news that Skye's wrist was only a slight sprain and bruised but not broken was at least somewhat good. She could return to school and she would not have to take gym class for a few days. Phil could just hear her saying something snarky like her injury being a blessing in disguise. He smiled. She reminded him of someone; with her sarcasm, quick wit and sense of fair play, but he just could not place who. 

Phil walked into the building and worked his way to the gym area where Melinda taught her group classes. He stood in the back. He watched his wife as she went through some moves and then as she walked around the kids helping them and commenting. She looked back at him and he caught her eye. He winked at her. If she was surprised to see him, she didn't let on. She smiled back. He continued to watch her interact with the kids and his heart grew heavy. She was so good with them, patient and kind while teaching. But she also kept her distance, keeping them at arms length, never getting personal, never showing emotion. To her it was all business. He couldn't help but wonder how she would have been had Jamey not died. How different they both would have been. How whole Melinda would be instead of masking the broken pieces with temporary tape all the time. 

Soon the last child was picked up and Melinda was leaning into his arms letting him hold her up. She was tired. Last night was a bad night. After her nightmare she could not fall back to sleep even with Phil holding her. After a full day of judo, karate and Tai Chi she was beat. 

"So what brings you here instead of going home?" 

"Ah just rough day. I thought we deserved a night out. How about we go to Salvatore's and get wasted."

Melinda giggled. "Wasted? What are you Phillip, 17?" 

"Hey, I spend all day with teens. That's why I need to get wasted." 

She hit him on his arm playfully. "You love those teens Phil. What happened?"

"2015 happened. I don't know Mel. Kids are nasty these days. Remember how easy it was in high school for us. Even the nerds didn't have to fear school. Or gym class." 

"Hey, speak for yourself. I was one of three Asians in my entire high school. And I was a science geek. Imagine what I dealt with." 

"Ah but even then you could kick anyone's ass Mel. I bet no one really bothered you. They were probably afraid of you." 

She smirked. "Hmmmmmmmmmm..........well yeah. My mother taught me how to take out anyone but it still wasn't easy to go there. I was pretty far down on the food chain. So glad when I graduated and went to Yale, and after that the FBI was into diversity at the time. I think I was the only Asian woman back then in the agency. But high school sucked Phil. "

He pulled back from her and looked at her intently. "You." 

She looked at him questioningly. "Me?" 

"She reminds me of you. Oh my gosh, why didn't I see it earlier. She's just like you. Damn, she even looks a little like you." 

Now it was Melinda's turn to step back. She raised her eyebrows at her husband. " She? Who is she, Phillip?" 

"Skye. She's a new student. In my history class." He grinned. 

Melinda relaxed. "Skye huh?" 

"Yeah well that's what she calls herself. Her real name's Mary Sue Poots."

Melinda made a face. "Ugh." 

"See. You are proving my point. She's a foster kid. Started yesterday. Hates her name and told me outright if I called her Mary Sue, she would not respond. Said her name's Skye and that was that. Proceeded to answer half the questions in class without studying any of the material. This morning she and two other kids got attacked in gym class. She told me what happened but no one else spoke up. Had to get x-rays on her wrist but it is only sprained not broken. She asked, half kidding I think, if I knew any self defense teachers. I gave her your card. Told her about you needing someone to clean this place."

Melinda stopped him. "Phil? You want me to teach self defense to one of your students in exchange for her cleaning this place? You offered that to her?" 

"Well........ maybe?" He looked a bit sheepish. "I told her to call, said you might be willing to make a deal like that. She's a foster kid Mel. I doubt she has any money laying around to pay for classes." 

Melinda sighed. "Phil you cannot fix the world." 

"No, but I can fix pieces of it. One piece at a time. Just like what we can do through the foster system. Look at Skye. She's able to live in a nice home and go to a decent school because someone stepped up to foster. Well, a mostly decent school." 

"I'm gonna grab a shower." Melinda changed the subject. "How about 'La Pesa Mio'? I'm gonna need wine. Lots of wine Phil." 

He laughed. "Roger that." 

They ended up getting take out Italian including a bottle of Zinfandel and stayed in for the night. 

 

Skye was in her room, trying to catch up on her school assignments when Ryan came bursting in her room. 

"Is it true? Tell me Skye, is it?" He stopped as he took in her bruised face and bandaged wrist. "Son of a bitch." He started pacing between her bed and desk. "Who the hell does he think he is. Fucking asshole." He looked back at Skye. "Hey are you okay? Does it hurt? Who did it Skye?"

"Hey calm down please. And lower your voice. Your mom was not happy she had to get me and take me to the doctor. I don't want her more pissed at me. " 

"Too bad. She's half way drunk already. Damnit Skye, I told you to be careful. Who was it? Do you even know?

"Well, Flowers is in my gym class, along with the redhead. I'm fairly certain I didn't make friends with them before school started. If I was betting, I'd go with them rigging the whole thing." 

"Flowers?" 

"Dark hair, ebony skin, had on a flower dress."

"Raina? You messed with Raina?"

"Hey!" Skye was pissed now. "I messed with no one. They attacked me, remember?" She held up her wrist to make her point. 

"Redhead. That means Alisha too." 

Skye looked at him waiting for more. 

"Freshmen hierarchy Skye. Raina and Alisha along with Miles Lydon and Seth Dormer."

"Right. Leaders. Populars. Let me guess. They are cheerleaders too? " 

He laughed. "Raina and Alisha are. Miles and Seth are the poster board pretty boys of the freshman class." 

Skye giggled. "Football too?" 

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Of course. JV stars already in ninth grade. Seth's dad is on the school board. Miles mother is the Jr. High Principal. Everyone loves them." 

"Funny, I wasn't getting that warm and fuzzy vibe from them." 

Ryan laughed.

"So Miles. Is he like tall, brown hair, pretty muscular?" 

"Yeah. How'd you know?" 

She held up her wrist again. "Duh." 

"Son of a bitch. He's in your gym class? What about Dormer?"

Skye shrugged her shoulders. 

"He's medium build, longish black hair, nose that........."

Skye interrupted. "Yeah I think he was there. Now that I think about it the four were lined up together on the other side right before the Neanderthal coach blew the start whistle."

"It was a warning Skye. Telling you to fall in line. To toe the line. To bow down to the powers that be. Also a trap to see if you ratted anyone out." 

Skye sat in silence. Yeah. A trap. "To see if I would be a good little soldier." It was all making more sense.

Ryan nodded. 

"Like Thomas and Jemma are." She paused a beat. "Like you are." 

"Hey. Not fair Skye. You have no idea what we have had..."

"All I know is they let me hanging. They wouldn't back me up. Not even the part about how the bastard teacher told me it was my fault. Hey at least Mr. C believed me."

Ryan's face turned a little pale. "You told Mr. Coulson? Skye we don't tell. They'll really hurt you if you tell."

"Don't worry chickenshit. They won't do anything. My word against the rest. No one will believe a foster kid with issues. Your little secret is safe."

"That's not fair. You know they broke Leo's arm just cause he stood up to their bullshit. There's a lot of them Skye. We just try to do our work and stay out of their way." 

She looked at his face. He was scared. Damn, what the hell is wrong with his brother. "Ry, did JJ threaten you? To hurt you? Something worse?" 

Ryan looked away. He bit his bottom lip. She gazed at him curiously. "Ryan?"

"JJ hurts my friends Skye. Leo's not the first one to get hurt. Last year JJ set some of his boys on Thomas. Thought Thomas needed some toughening up. Grant was pissed but JJ is the King. The others all supported JJ. Some of them are just nasty Skye. They take pleasure in hurting people. They feel as though since they are bigger and stronger everyone should do whatever they say."

"Well that's dumb. You all should stand up to them. Get the teachers on your side. Stick together."

"We tried that Skye. Joey's cousin got hurt." 

"Who's Joey?" 

"He's a junior. Used to be tight with Grant and JJ. They all grew up together playing pony league baseball and midget football. His cousin Yolanda got hurt. She lives with Joey's family. They were more like brother and sister than cousins. She was close to Jemma, only a year older. She was part of our group."

"So what happened?" 

"Not sure but she is home schooled now. She spent some time in the hospital. Joey freaked out blaming JJ and beat him good. Last April. Joey is in juvie for another few months. Dad and D.A. Malick pressed charges against him."

"So JJ hurt her and her cousin got in trouble."

"See how it works Skye. My dad backs JJ and Grants family backs Grant, and they are tight with Malick. And Seth's dad and Miles mom, and the others. Parents protect their kids Skye. Their future."

"I wouldn't know." 

Before they could continue, there was a knock on the door. It opened and Jason Brody poked his head in the room. "Ah there you are Ryan. So how you feel Skye. Anne told me what happened."

"I'm good, thanks." She held up her wrist. "Just a slight sprain." 

"Ah that's good." He smiled at her. "Dinner in five." 

"Okay, we're coming." Skye smiled at the man. He closed the door. She looked at Ryan. 

"Look whatever is going on, I'm not going just sit and be a pawn. If they mess with me again, I'm fighting back." 

"Skye." He looked at her frowning. 

"I'm not gonna start anything. Okay." 

He nodded sure that was all he was going to get from her. 

They both sat at the table. JJ was already seated. He ignored both and just covered his plate with food and started eating. Skye snuck a glance at him and then looked at Ryan. He shook his head. She stuck a piece of roast beef with her fork and put it in her mouth. As she ate, her mind wondered thinking about what exactly she had gotten herself into with this family. An eerie silence prevailed as everyone ignored each other. 

After the dishes were done, which Skye had volunteered to do and Ryan had helped, Skye was sitting on her bed with her computer next to her. She was thinking about what Ryan said about people getting hurt and also thinking about what Mr. C had said about his wife. She reached into her jean pocket and pulled out the card. She had stuffed it in her pocket in the locker room after it had fallen out of her gym shorts while she was changing before Mrs. Brody had taken her to the doctor. She rolled it back and forth in her fingers. She finally made up her mind and dialed the number on the card. It rang 4 times and the answer machine picked up. Beep. She started talking. 

"Yeah so this is Skye. I um...I am new here........and um Mr C, um Coulson....said you might be able to teach me self defense. Anyway, I'll maybe call back ...umm.. tomorrow......I mean if you could teach me something ...maybe so I wouldn't be afraid of.....I mean I'm not really afraid...but...I ...so......I could defend myself....I'm not very athletic though..........or anything........I mean I can fight ok, growing up in an orphanage and all but............I never had to really defend.........well you know............maybe I could clean to pay....I'm a good worker.....when I want to be...and so..........um......but I have no money......so yeah........anyway I'll just call..." Beep. 

 

Hmmm that was real smooth. She shook her head. I sounded like an idiot. She tossed her phone on the bed and reached for her computer. She brought up the website for Melinda's Place. Not bad. She cruised the site. Decent graphics. Lots of pics. Cute pics with kids. Some shots of action, kids and adults doing karate (or whatever it was). She paused as she got to the next picture. It was outside the building and Mr. C and who she guessed was his wife were standing under a sign saying Melinda's Place. His wife was Chinese. That was a surprise. She was also very beautiful. She was smiling but it was the woman's eyes that drew Skye in. Even though she had a smile on her face, it didn't reach her eyes. They looked haunted. Skye knew she had seen that look on someone before. Those eyes. It would be a long time till Skye figured out that the someone Melinda reminded her of was the person looking back at herself everyday in the mirror. 

Skye looked at the clock which said 1:05. She had gone on to finish her homework after checking out the gym site. She shut down her computer and put it on the nightstand. She crawled under the covers and her last thought before falling asleep was of hoping the next day did not suck as much as today. 

 

Melinda got to her gym early on Thursday. She didn't have a class until 10am but wanted to catch up on paperwork, and check her emails. She also needed to add another class since she had so many people waiting to join one. She didn't like new people coming to her classes in the middle of them unless the were transferring and could keep up. Problem was she already was teaching every day of the week except Sunday and her promise to only do Saturday mornings had been broken two years ago when she had added in two afternoon classes of teen self defense. She walked into her office throwing the stack of mail on it, sat down and switched on he computer. As she started going through the mail she switched on her phone messages. Her first two messages were sales calls. The third was from Roz asking to get together for coffer over the weekend. She made a note to call Roz back later that night. The fourth message had her stopping and just staring at the machine.

"Yeah so this is Skye. I um...I am new here........and um Mr C, um Coulson....said you might be able to teach me self defense. Anyway, I'll maybe call back ...umm.. tomorrow......I mean if you could teach me something ...maybe so I wouldn't be afraid of.....I mean I'm not really afraid...but...I ...so......I could defend myself....I'm not very athletic though..........or anything........I mean I can fight ok, growing up in an orphanage and all but............I never had to really defend.........well you know............maybe I could clean to pay....I'm a good worker.....when I want to be...and so..........um......but I have no money......so yeah........anyway I'll just call..." Beep. 

Melinda stared at the phone. She had really called. And sounded like she was upset. No that wasn't the word. Needy? No not quite right. Desperate? Yeah maybe a little. I mean who calls a complete stranger and tries to make a deal for a service? Well Phil did give her the idea. But honestly Melinda had shaken it off not really giving it another thought. Till now. The kid didn't leave a number, didn't even finish the message or call back to leave another. Melinda shook her head to clear her thoughts. She did need someone to help around here. But she was thinking more along the lines of another instructor and they could both clean up the place. She remembered she had received a few applications from her add last week and decided to check through them. By the time she finished them, finding one good potential candidate in the midst, it was nearly time for her first class to start arriving. She went to the locked room and quickly changed, put her hair in a pony tail and headed to the group gym room. She didn't think about the message from the girl until later that afternoon when the girl actually showed up in her gym. Of course it shouldn't have surprised her that she was escorted by her husband, who was grinning. They both stood in the back watching her teach a Tai Chi class for mostly older women. She finished the class giving instructions to them before turning and disappearing into her office. A few moments later after a knock on the door, Phil entered the small space followed by a nervous looking teenager, wearing a bandage on her left wrist and sporting a nice bruise on her cheek. 

"Melinda. This is Skye. Skye, Melinda Coulson, my very beautiful wife. He smiled at her. 

"Hello." Skye shuffled behind him and looked at Melinda.

She nodded. " Are you the same Skye who left an odd message on my answering machine late last night?" 

Skye nodded. "Yeah I was ........I mean.....I am..... I sort of ....I did...........I wanted to.....um ......he........well Mr. C said........ "

Melinda laughed. Skye stopped stuttering and turned a little red. She looked down at her shoes. 

"I hate talking to new people too. Talking is highly overrated."

Skye's head shot up as she saw the woman staring at her intently. The woman continued. "But talking is also necessary too so how about you and I talk about making a deal" . She motioned for Skye to sit in the chair on the side of her desk while she sat down in hers. "Oh and honey?" Melinda looked at her still smiling goofball of a husband.

Phil raised his eyebrows and grinned at her. She continued. "The mats need to be wiped down, all of them and since I will be in here talking to Skye who you so kindly brought with you, you can do it." She smirked at him. 

 

He sighed and gave in knowing this was a battle he would lose. " Of course dear." He left the room and Melinda gave him a very satisfied smile. 

"So now Skye. What is it you wish to learn from me, and why do you want to do so?" 

Skye sat still for a few moments. She wanted to impress this woman sitting in front of her, but she had no idea why. She wanted to say something profound and instead found herself blurting out these words. "I just want to stop being afraid." She winced. Shit. She didn't want to say that. Or did she? 

Melinda looked at the girl taking in her appearance. She was small and skinny, probably too much so, and looked a little bedraggled in a pair of skinny jeans ripped in the legs, and an oversized shirt. Her bruised cheek and wrapped wrist made her look vulnerable. Melinda studied the girl's face as Skye shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tale with some pieces of hair sticking out. But it was her eyes that Melinda focused on for a few moments, seeing something there that reminded her of a puppy that had been kicked around one too many times. Brown eyes locked onto brown eyes, and the brief glimpse of hope was not missed by Melinda. Then Skye looked down at her shoes. 

"Maybe this was a stupid idea. I can just go." Skye mumbled and started dragging herself out of her chair." She stopped when Melinda quickly spoke up. 

"Two lessons a week. One group/one private. You clean the gym four hours a week to pay. Mostly wiping down mats, sweeping up and cleaning the shower and baths. If you progress well enough we can revisit the deal in a month or so."

Skye slowly brought her head up to gaze at Melinda. "For real?" 

"I don't say anything I don't mean Skye." 

Looking at the woman Skye guessed that was true enough. Still she asked. "Why are you doing this." 

"Honestly Skye I have no idea. But that idiot out there, is my idiot husband and for some reason he thinks this is important. He thinks people are important."

Skye smirked at Melinda's word choice. "He is pretty cool. For a teacher." 

Melinda's lips turned slightly. "He wants to save the world. Protect people." 

Skye shrugged. "I'd just be happy to save myself from getting this again." She waved her arm around. 

Melinda glanced up at the girl again. No I think it goes far deeper than that she thought. But she let it go. For now. "So we have a deal?" She pushed her chair back and got up. Skye stood up too. 

"Deal."

"You want to start tonight? Or do you have somewhere to be?"

That threw Skye off balance. "Um tonight? I guess I could, but can I do it in this, I have no gym clothes, or........."

"You'll be fine for the first lesson. I'll introduce you to some Tai Chi. But next time wear some kind of lose pants and top. You can stay an hour?" 

"Just let me text the Brody's. Let them know." 

"Good." Melinda got up and stood in the doorway. "Meet me back in the gym after you contact them to find out if it's okay." Melinda walked out and made her way to where her husband was kneeling down wiping gym mats. 

Skye shot off a quick text to Ryan and then got up to follow Melinda out the door. She looked around the gym as she made her way to stand in front of her new instructor and her teacher. Skye grinned as Mr. C leaned in to kiss his wife's cheek and turned to wink at her. Melinda turned as well. 

She pointed to a doorway off to the right. "Over there - individual instruction room." Melinda walked toward it as Mr. C. went back to cleaning the mats. Skye followed. Melinda turned back to her husband before shutting the door behind them. "We'll be an hour then you can take her home." 

Phil stood up looking at her and saluted. Then he grinned. "Yes, ma'am." She rolled her eyes at him and slammed the door shut.


	5. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye meets someone new. More delving into the past.

Skye watched as the women closed the door behind her after giving her husband a smirk. She motioned for Skye to follow onto the mat already laid out on the floor. 

"Take off you sneakers and step onto the mat please." 

Skye did as she was told. Melinda stood in front of her and gazed at her.

"We will start with Tai Chi. See how that goes. Then I'll walk you through some strength training in the equipment room. So watch what I do and try to follow along. I'll go slow, standing in front of you, you mimic me as I do the motions and then repeat while I watch and I'll correct you if needed."

Skye nodded. Melinda backed away a bit. She started with a simple movement and Skye did the same thing.

"Now you try it yourself." 

Skye moved again trying to do what she remembered Melinda doing. Melinda smiled and moved toward her. 

"You are too stiff Skye. You need to relax." Melinda reached across Skye's to fix her left arm. " This position needs to just be natural. Like this." 

As Melinda adjusted her a bit and got her to stand correctly she started explaining what Tai Chi was for. Skye listened. They continued to go over more movements and eventually Skye was doing 8 separate movements that transitioned into each previous one. She really was doing it. It was slow and tedious and Skye was surprised when she realized 45 minutes had passed. 

"So okay. You need to practice these every day. A few times each day Skye."

Skye nodded. "What if I forget how to once I leave?" 

"You won't. You did well. I added only enough and did enough that your body should remember. If by chance you forget one just do what you remember. Be careful of your wrist, but you should be fine with what I taught you. Put your sneakers back on." Skye did and then she followed Melinda back out of the room and into another room that held exercise equipment. Melinda looked back to assess Skye again and then led her to a treadmill. 

"Two miles. Get on it and I'll show you how to set it. Then you'll do a little weight lifting with your legs. You need strong flexible muscles to do martial arts."

Thirty minutes later after running two miles, well she did walk half of one; and doing leg lifts on the machine, Skye was tired. Her legs burned and she knew Melinda saw, even though she tried to mask her discomfort. To her credit Melinda did not say anything about Skye's physical state or rather lack of but simply walked with her out of the room to find Phil.

"How did it go?" Phil asked Skye the question when they found him in Melinda's office. 

"Good." It was Melinda who answered. "She shows promise."

Melinda turned to Skye. "Phil will take you home. Can you be here Saturday at one? You can clean first while I finish my last class and then we'll do more training."

Skye nodded as she answered. "Yes. One o'clock is fine. 

 

Skye sat on her bed mulling over what had just happened tonight. She had left that awful, confused message last night on Melinda May's phone and figured that nothing would come of it. Today in school, nothing much had happened. She got to spend gym period in the library and caught up on her computer class work. They had a quiz in English class, which she aced; and at lunch Thomas, Jemma and Leo had talked about movies and music after they had all checked that she was okay. It was while she was walking home with Ryan, that her day got interesting. Mr. Coulson had driven by them and stopped to talk. He had convinced her to get in his car, and go with him to his wife's gym or dojo or whatever it was. And then that whole thing had happened. She had come home to an empty house which was fine cause she had not wanted to really talk about anything with anyone. 

Now hours later she kept thinking about Tai Chi and Melinda May. She had actually been able to do the Tai Chi moves with some helpful positioning from Melinda. She found that she had liked it. She was looking forward to the next class on Saturday. Her mind was racing as she relived the night, when there was a knock on her door. 

"Skye can I come in?" It was Ryan. 

"Yeah sure."

Ryan opened the door and came over to her bed. He plopped down on the side of the mattress. "So how'd it go. With Mrs. Coulson? 

He had been part of the conversation with Mr. C earlier and had actually encouraged her to go. 

"Good. I think I like it. I'm going back on Saturday."

"So what's Mrs. C like. Is she like Mr. C? All warm and funny and kind?"

Skye laughed. "Not really. She's kind of badass and doesn't take his shit. But you can tell they love each other. A lot."

"How can you tell that after one meeting Skye?" 

"When you grow up with that missing you tend to be able to see it when it's real. She is beautiful, and really in shape and no nonsense. Says what needs saying and that's it. Expects you to do your best, and knows her stuff. I just want to learn to defend myself and I think she is my best shot."

"Look Skye. If you don't make waves you won't need to defend yourself. Just stay low key. Out of everyone's way and just stick to your own business. Don't be looking for trouble."

"Hey. I wasn't looking Ryan. It found me. It usually does. Next time though I want to be ready. I'm not gonna let anyone push me anymore. You should try that too. You know the more of us that stick together the stronger we can be." 

Ryan sighed. "It's just not that simple. You'll see." 

Skye hit his arm. "Hey Ry? You can't let others walk over you. Even if one of them is your brother."

"Look I don't want to fight about it. Just try to stay away from that crowd." He stood up. "So far it's the best easiest and best solution. Then you won't have to use self defense. Don't go looking for trouble. They'll leave you alone now since they sent their message. I don't want to see you get hurt again." 

"That's sweet. But I don't plan on getting hurt. So anyway, you think your parents would be okay with me being away all Saturday afternoon? Should I tell them or ask them. Still not sure what they want from me."

"Tell them. Don't lie but you can leave out details. Dad will probably be glad you are doing something, and mom will not care as long as you get your chores done first. I'm gonna go to bed. I'll walk with you to school tomorrow, I don't need to leave early like today. Goodnight." 

"Okay sounds good. Night Ryan." He closed the door behind him. Skye got up and got her backpack ready for school and slipped into her pajamas. She slid into bed under the covers and before she fell asleep, she went over in her mind each move she had learned form Melinda. 

 

Melinda crawled into bed and cuddled up to Phil. It was getting colder and she shivered a little as she hugged him for his body heat. Soon they would have to turn the heat on in the house. He pulled her tighter and they juts lay there together in a comfortable silence. 

A few minutes later Phil whispered to her, "thank you." 

"She turned her head up to look at him raising her eyebrows. "For what." 

"Helping Skye." 

"I had a choice?" A slow smirk spread across her face. 

"You always have a choice Mel. You always choose compassion." 

She swatted his shoulder playfully. "You think you know me so well." 

He grinned. Damn she was sexy. He could feel her body flush against his and he could feel himself getting aroused. Of course, around Melinda that happened all the time when she touched him. He reached down to kiss her on her cheek and smiled. She turned her head and she winked. He crashed his lips to hers and felt her shift and swing her legs up over his pressing her body down into his. As he came up for air he stroked her back with his right hand as his left reached lower as she nuzzled her face to his neck and started peppering him with kisses. He grinned as he felt her bite his neck and his last coherent thought was how he was going to have a tough time covering that up at school tomorrow. 

Melinda laid in her lovers' arms and just rested in his love and safety. He was snoring quietly and she glanced at his face. Even in his sleep Phil look content. She smiled. She loved him so much. She had never thought she could love anyone more and then she had given birth to Jamey. Every maternal instinct she had heard others talk about had kicked in and her heart had exploded at the mere sight of seeing him for the first time. That was 13 years ago and it felt like only yesterday. So did the accident. Afterward, she had not grieved properly having to also deal with Phil's injuries and waiting to see if he would recover. Eventually he had and by that time she had pushed herself away from every thing and everyone except Phil. She had quit her job at the FBI much to the dismay of her captain and for the first year had taken care of Phil. His injuries had him in and out of the hospital for almost six months with therapy and more recovery an additional four months. He missed an entire year of school. Melinda had taken all her built up vacation and other time off and Phil as well and they had depleted their savings.

After Phil went back to work the following year, Melinda got a job as a security consultant which allowed her to pick her own hours. In a few years, they were financially back on their feet, enough so that Phil had suggested Melinda try for her dream and open the dojo/gym in town. They searched for a year until they found the old building and took out a loan against their house to pay for the building and the construction work to fix it into a place suitable for martial arts lessons. Four years after the death of her son, Melinda officially opened Melinda's Place. Phil had thrown out the idea to call the business after their son in his memory but Melinda had shot that down quickly. She did not need an external reminder of all she had lost, her internal reminders were ingrained in her entire being. Her business had built up nicely and quickly with recommendations from her former co-workers at the agency and from the local police department. In fact, it had grown so much that she really needed another instructor. 

Melinda made a mental note to herself to call the applicant she had approved of to set up an interview. She also thought about the young girl that had shown up with Phil and couldn't shake the thought that there was much more to the girl then met the eye. Her answer of wanting to not be scared intrigued Melinda. It intrigued her and made her wary at the same time. The girl had shown potential. If one thing Melinda knew from teaching the kids and teens, she could tell when they were there because they wanted to be or because their parent wanted them to be. It was much easier teaching an eager learner and Skye appeared to be just that. Phil mumbled something and wrapped his arms tighter around her. She smiled and pressed in closer to his space as she drifted off to sleep. 

 

Skye woke up as the alarm blared on her phone. She grabbed the offending thing and slammed it off. She sat up her eyes bleary and the room still dark. Gads she hated mornings. And being up in the morning when it was still dark outside sucked. She threw the blankets off her body and moved to get off the bed. Ouch. Shit. She stopped moving and glanced at her legs. Ouch. They freaking hurt and they felt tight. She flexed them and immediately regretted it as her right calf twisted into a knot. Pain shot up and down her leg as the charley horse took full hold. She squealed and tried to grab her leg as she pushed herself to the edge of the bed. She managed to get her foot to the floor and rubbing her calf she tried desperately to relax her muscle. She straightened her foot and flexed the arch up to counter the knot in her calf. After a few more moments of frantic rubbing, cursing, and stretching she finally was able to straighten her leg and limp to the bathroom. She returned to her room grabbing her clothes and toiletries and made her way back to the bathroom with only a slight limp. She got under the hot water and sighed happily as the water helped ease her sore muscles. Her previous lack of physical exertion of any kind recently was rearing its' ugly head and biting her in her ass, metaphorically of course. She giggled, and then full out laughed at the absurdity of it all. 

After drying off and dressing she moved a comb threw her wayward hair and then pulled it into a ponytail. She had put on a pair of skinny jeans, and an old sweatshirt along with pulling on her high tops. She glanced in the mirror and gave herself a thumbs up at her casual attire. She grabbed her backpack and hopped down the steps, making her way into the kitchen. She dropped her backpack on a chair noticing she was the only one there. She grabbed two bagels and popped them in the toaster. She got out the cream cheese and orange juice. She poured 2 glasses of juice and when the bagels popped up spread a good amount of cream cheese on them. She carried the 2 plates to the table, went back to grab a banana and the two glasses and brought them over too. She sat down and took one bite of her bagel when Ryan came running into the kitchen. He stopped just short in front of the table and saw Skye with the stuff already at the table. He smiled and sat down picking up the bagel. 

"Thanks." 

She smiled at him and took another bite of her bagel. They scarfed everything down and Skye put the dishes in the sink as Ryan ran back upstairs for the backpack he had forgotten. They both made their way out of the house and walked side by side down the driveway, turning right to head to school. 

"Damn. I am so glad it's Friday." Ryan spoke up. "Not that the weekend is gonna be anything to write home about since I have this stinking huge bio test to study for and a English paper to write."

"You start the paper yet?" 

Ryan glared at her. "No. I hate English. I hate the teacher and I hate the book." 

Skye laughed. "Sounds to me like someone shouldn't have waited till the last minute." 

"Oh shut up. I know what I want to say, I just have a hard time putting in down on paper. Know what I mean?" 

"Not really. I can usually bullshit my way through any paper. It's a gift." She grinned back at him. 

"Suck up."

Skye laughed. "Yeah that's me. Actually it's just easy for me. You know like for you guys and science. I still don't know what the hell an amoeba is." 

Ryan smirked. "Speaking of, how is your bio class going. It's an applied one right?" 

"Stop laughing at me. Bio sucks. And cause I sucked at science last school they put me in that lower class. Only good thing is I might be the smartest one there." They both laughed. Skye quieted for a moment. "Hey Ryan help get me through Bio and I'll help you with your papers. Deal?" 

"Now that is the best deal I've heard in a long time." He held out his hand waiting for hers. She shook her head at him but shook his hand anyway. They turned into the school drive and Skye saw Raina and her friends watching them. Ryan saw too and he grabbed Skye's arm and ushered her to her left to go the long way around to the entrance. She scowled at him but followed his lead. They entered the school and Skye headed off to the library while Ryan walked to his dreaded English class. 

It was lunchtime and Skye was eyeing her lunch trepidly. It appeared to be a bowl of mashed potatoes with corn over them and small pieces of chicken on the top with a drizzle of gravy over everything. Thomas sat next to her, and sat his own tray down. He followed her gaze since she had not looked at him and he laughed. 

"Tiger bowl." 

She glanced at him warily. "Yeah I know that's what it said. Why is everything mushed together?" 

"It's a copy of Kentucky Fried Chicken's bowls. But obviously much smaller." 

Skye shook her head and got her fork and stabbed a piece of chicken. "I don't think the chicken likes being in there."

Thomas laughed. Just then Jemma sat down and smiled at them both. She had a packed lunch. She always packed her lunch. She started pulling her food out as Thomas and Skye watched. It was always interesting to see what Jemma had packed each day. 

As she pulled things from her lunch box, she spoke to them. "Hello Skye. Thomas. Fitz is in the lab working and won't be at lunch. He said he'll grab something during his free period after Trig. What are you staring at?"   
She had finally noticed her two friends watching her. 

"Um Jemma, you pulled like 8 things out so far."

"Yes of course." She held up a package. "Crackers." She continued picking up each one and describing it. "Jam for the crackers. Cheese. Roast beef. Dipping sauce. Egg. Carrots. Celery. Nutella for the celery." She reached into her bag. "And muffin. It's not much at all." 

Skye sighed. Looks better than mine. I hate food all mixed together."

"You could have taken the pizza Skye." Jemma said as she spread the jam. 

Thomas and Skye shared a look. "It's that round yucky pizza Jems." Thomas added. 

"Oh yes. Fitz hates that kind as well. I suppose you can eat the other stuff that comes with Skye." 

Skye smiled. "Yeah I love apricots, and brussel sprouts." 

Even Jemma made a face at that. "Here Skye." Jemma offered her muffin over. 

"Uh no Jemma. I didn't mean that. I'm okay."

"Please take it Skye. I have more than enough anyway." Jemma held it out to her and Skye reluctantly took it.

"Thank you." 

"You are quite welcome. What else are friends for?' 

Skye smiled. She bit into the muffin and sighed in contentment. It was fabulous. Both the muffin and having friends. 

After lunch Skye went to her Geometry class and then to Biology and then she had Spanish class. She waited for Ryan at the end of the day at the school entrance and they walked home together. 

Skye did her chores and finished her homework for something to do later on after dinner. They had all eaten dinner together and this one was actually pleasant with everyone making small talk. Anne Brody seemed relatively sober, at least to Skye, and even she was joking around a bit. All and all it had been a good day. Skye had found Ryan playing video games and talked him into watching a movie with her. They watched the first Bourne movie and Ryan even made popcorn for both. After Skye promised Ryan she'd help him with his paper Saturday after she got back home, then she simply went to bed early. She was looking forward to going to Melinda's Place the next day. 

 

Melinda had a full day of classes on Friday, from 8am to 5pm. She was beat. She and Phil had settled down to watch the basketball game which Phil loved and Melinda put up with for him. She fell asleep before half time. Phil nudged her awake and then guided her up to bed. She collapsed into bed and fell back to sleep almost immediately. She barely noticed the bed move when Phil joined her a few hours later. She instinctively curled into his side as he put his arm around her waste. She was in that same position when she woke in the morning. She checked the clock and saw it said 5am. She pulled out from under Phil's arm and quietly got up and went into the bathroom. After, she slipped on some yoga pants and one of Phils' too large T-shirts she made her way downstairs to do her Tai Chi. She only had 4 classes today plus the girl was supposed to come at one. She had called the applicant yesterday and that interview was set up for 4pm. She knew it unusual to do interviews on Saturdays but she really needed to position filled. That she had fallen asleep exhausted by nine last night exemplified that to her. Melinda finished up her Tai Chi and went to take a shower. She had a full day ahead of her and looked forward to the end when she could relax with Phil.

Skye had gotten up at early and finished all her chores. She even did a couple loads of laundry and folded it for Anne, who seemed very grateful. When Skye told her she was going across town to take a martial arts lesson, Anne had simply nodded and stuck a ten in her hand for the bus. Skye had smiled and thanked her. 

Skye was now riding her second bus. She had walked almost a mile to the bus stop and after getting dropped off at a transfer point she had hopped another bus that would drop her only two blocks from Melinda's Place. It was 12:30 and she would be early. Good. Better that than late. Skye knew when people were doing kind things for you nothing pissed them off more than when you were late. The bus came to a stop and Skye got off. She looked around as she walked and realized that she was in a not that friendly feeling area of town. It had a few run down buildings, and a few guys hanging out making catcalls to her as she walked. She picked up speed and kept her head down. Soon she was standing in front of Melinda's Place. She walked in and headed to the main room. Melinda was teaching a class of younger kids and many parents were also standing in the back watching. She waited with them and soon the class was over as kids were escorted by their parents out. Melinda waved at Skye and motioned her over. 

"The mats in the small individual room you were in Thursday and al the exercise equipment needs wiping off first Skye. The cleaning supplies are in the weight and equipment room, clearly marked what is for what along with rags, buckets and paper towels. Also I have gloves for you to use. I have a class coming in a few minutes so you start there. If you get done I also have garbage bags there, you can collect you trash from cleaning and the trash cans around the building and take the trash to the bin in the back of the parking lot. You okay with that?" 

Skye nodded. She walked into the equipment/weight room and did what Melinda said. As she was finishing collecting the trash she walked out into the main room and was surprised to see the group was teens around her age. It as small, she counted only 7 students. One in particular, caught her eye mostly cause he was staring at her. He had dark blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Blue eyes that appeared to be twinkling at her. She stared and he broke into a grin. She smiled back. He was really cute. He winked at her. 

"Lincoln you want to pay attention please. You are two moves behind." Melinda raised her eyebrows at her star pupil.

"Oh I think he's a few moves ahead of the game Miss May." This came from Trip. Not that I blame him one bit." The rest of the class broke into laughter as Skye turned red. Melinda glanced at Lincoln to follow his gaze and saw Skye looking a bit mortified at the attention. 

Lincoln to his credit looked actually looked embarrassed and turned his attention back to his teacher. "Sorry Miss May but I was distracted." 

Skye looked at Melinda and hurried into her office looking for trash bins. Melinda suppressed her laughter at the antics of her hormonal teenage students. 

She walked in front of Lincoln. "Distractions make you lose." 

He saluted her. "Copy that." 

She gazed at him. He never saw her coming. He blinked rapidly at her from the floor. "Distractions and being a wise ass will allow me to do that each and every time." 

Skye had returned to the room after emptying the trash bin just in time to see little Melinda May take down the over 6 foot tall cute guy. She laughed. Lincoln turned toward her as he pulled himself up and laughed along with her. 

He bowed to Melinda and set himself in position. He tried to totally ignore the sound of laughter coming from the beautiful girl but his grin gave him away. He would definitely need to find out more about her. 

Skye turned to walk out of the room. She walked outside and threw the bag into the trash bin. She had seen Trip from her computer class was there and figured she'd grill him on Monday on just who the cute tall guy who winked at her was. Lincoln is what Melinda had called him. She grinned. Lincoln was a cute name.


	6. Shades of Light.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training. A new person arrives. Love is in the air - or something like that.

Skye checked the clock in the exercise room. It read 3:15. She was running on the treadmill to finish her lesson and she was on her last mile. Her leg muscles were screaming at her. Melinda had taken her through a Tai Chi session, and then actually taught her a few easy self defense moves. Then she had done some leg weight training and was now running the two miles Melinda told her to do, while Melinda was running next to her on the other treadmill. She glanced over quickly and saw that Melinda had barely broken a sweat and was not breathing heavy like she was. Damn the older woman was in shape. Only half a mile to go she told herself. 

Melinda smiled to herself as she saw the girl sneak a glance at her. Skye was breathing pretty heavy and sweat dripping down her face. She would get there. Melinda had already run 3 miles and was on her fourth while Skye was just about to finish up her second. Melinda stopped when she saw Skye stop, and Melinda ran her through some end stretches to prevent the girl's muscles from cramping up. Skye had told her about her leg cramp on Friday morning. 

"So you should run every day. Start with two miles. After a month we'll see where you are at and perhaps add another mile. That way you can skip that part the days you come here. We will still do some strength training with the defense lessons and Tai Chi."

"Okay. I can do that." Skye smiled. That Miss May was telling her that, meant she was going to continue the lessons. Skye had been worried she would tell her to come back and pay like everyone else, especially when Miss May saw how out of shape she was in. 

"I did all the cleaning you asked but if you need me to do something else I can. The bus doesn't come till 4:30." 

At that Melinda frowned. She hadn't know the girl had taken the bus. It did make sense though. She did hope the girl had told her foster parents what she was doing. The last thing Melinda needed was to be in the middle of some family type mess. 

"Your foster parents know you're here right?" Might as well cut to the chase. 

"Yeah. Mrs. Brody gave me money for the bus. I did all my chores at the house this morning first before coming."

Chores? Taking the bus. And cleaning for her. Plus the over hour long workout she had taken the girl through. Melinda grew introspective. This girl must really want this. "You have homework to do yet as well?" 

Skye followed along with Miss May stretching as she did what Melinda did. "Yeah some. Reading in history mostly." She smirked at Miss May. " A little biology to study. I promised Ryan, he's the Brody's son, that I'd help him with his English paper." 

"Is he making you write it for him?" 

Skye looked up in surprise. "Oh no, nothing like that. He promised to help me study for bio if I helped him with English. I suck at bio and he sucks at writing. He's my friend."

Melinda nodded. "That's good."

Skye felt a warm glow in her chest realizing that Miss May was concerned she was being taken advantage of. She smiled and continued talking. "Ry's a good guy. It's his brother JJ who is the asswipe."

Melinda looked up and raised her eyebrows. By this time they were both done stretching. "That's sounds like a story." 

"Uh yeah. Anyway JJ is like the football star and everyone loves him and he and his jerk friends think they run the school and so there's that." 

Skye followed Miss May's lead and sat at the bench. She passed Skye a water bottle. Skye took a big swallow and continued. "Anyway this," She held up her still bandaged wrist, " I got apparently as a warning to toe the line and be a good little nerd and I would be okay. So of course me being me, instead decided to do this." She spread her arms around for emphasis. "Get in shape and learn how to defend myself. Cause I don't like being told what to do, and even more I hate bullies. So yeah." 

Melinda took a drink and digested what the young girl had just opened up to her about. She glance over at the girl who was now looking at her sneakers. She smiled. 

"Well then I suppose we should step up your lessons. How about two nights a week and Saturdays? After a month maybe you can even join the teen group at one o'clock on Saturday. Think you can spare the time?" 

Skye looked up and turned to Miss May. "Really?" 

"Really. I told you before I don't say anything I don't mean. How about Tuesday after school and Thursday after school plus Saturday's at twelve? You come with my husband Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday you clean till 5 and then a lesson with me, Thursday lesson at 4, Saturday at 12 you clean then you sit and watch my 1 o clock class, and then after that another lesson. Sound fair to you?" 

"Yes. It sounds amazing. "

"Well check with your foster parents first. Call and let me know they said it was okay. And you need to run every day."

"I will. Check I mean. And run. I promise." 

Melinda smiled at her enthusiasm. She checked the time. "But right now I have a prospective employee coming for an interview. So I'll see you next week."

"Okay. Miss May could I just stay out there in the big room and wait. Cause I don't want to wait at the bus stop an hour and on the way here there were some guys who ......"

"Yes. You can wait. In fact, before you go make sure you tell me, I can drive you the few blocks to it. It will be dusk then anyway." 

"Oh that's okay I don't want to be any more trouble than......."

"That's an order Skye. You wait here and I'll take you. Okay?" 

Skye slowly nodded. 

"Good." Melinda got up and walked to her office. Skye wondered out after her to the large gym room and sat against the wall. 

A few minutes later Skye looked up as a woman entered the main gym door. The woman saw Skye and walked toward her. "Can you tell me where Melinda May is?" She had a slight accent that Skye could not place.

Melinda must have been on the lookout, cause Skye saw her step out of her office. Skye pointed in her direction. The woman turned and saw Melinda and made her way to the office. 

Melinda reached out her hand as the woman stood in front of her. "I'm Melinda May. Glad you could make it on such short notice."

The woman shook Melinda's hand and smiled. "Oh no, I thank you much for the interview. I am Natasha Romanoff."

The woman was small, shorter than Melinda even, and had bright red hair. Her smile lit up her face and she looked at Melinda with her bright green eyes. 

"Oh come on in my office." As the woman entered the room Melinda looked over to Skye who smiled at her. She smiled back, entered her office and closed the door. 

"So your resume was impressive. You have a black belt in karate dan level 2 and a black belt 4 dan level in judo. Your Judo level is higher than mine. And you are only 28 years old. Quite impressive actually." 

"I am quick study and hard worker. Plus Russia likes to win Olympic medals yes." Her voice carried a slight Russian accent. 

"So you are going to the University here as well. Studying Criminal Justice." 

The redhead nodded. "Yes I am interested in joining your FBI or something. It fascinates me, the American justice system. I need a job to help pay for rent. My cousins allow me to live with them but I no longer want to be a burden."

"How long have you lived here, in America?" 

"Almost four years. I first lived in Germany after leaving Russia. But I come over to here after I get an invite from my cousin. I have grown to love it here. I plan to become citizen soon." 

"You are in your 3rd year at school?"

"Yes. This one and next one than I graduate. Get degree. Get citizenship. Apply to police force. Or maybe FBI." 

"Your English is exceptional."

"I live in America now. I need to speak the language. Fit in. It good here." Melinda smiled. 

"Well you skills appear to be what I need here. Your recommendations are excellent. As for salary - you would get $15/hour to start, if that is acceptable When can you start?" 

"Today. I could start now."

"Um well I have to fill out paperwork and you need to sign some as well. How about I get everything ready and you come in Monday at, say 3:00pm and we take care of finishing that and you can start Tuesday at 4pm. We'll work out more details on Monday. It says in your resume you can work Saturday and Sunday all hours, and after 3pm weekdays. Is that still okay?" 

"Yes, that fine. I go to school in morning and early afternoon."

"Okay then. I can only offer about 25 hours a week for now. Most of that on the weekends. Still okay?" 

"Yes. Thank you um....Mrs. May."

"Melinda is fine Natasha. We are not very formal here. My husband will be overjoyed. He thinks I work too much."

"Okay Miss Melinda." Melinda smiled. She looked up as she heard a knock on the door. Skye. She glanced at her clock which said 4:22.

"Come in Skye." 

Skye hesitantly opened the door. "I'm sorry Miss May. But you said to let you know when I had to leave, and I kinda have to...."

"It's okay Skye. We were wrapping up anyway. Skye this is Natasha Romanoff, my new assistant instructor. Natasha - this is Skye, a new student."

Skye stuck out her hand and smiled. Natasha shook it. 

"It is good to meet student. Hello Skye." 

"Hi." 

"So Natasha, I will see you back here at 3 on Monday. And Skye we are never going to make the bus stop till I lock up and all so I will just drive you home tonight. Get your things, as I see Natasha out, and then go turn off the bath and shower lights and exercise room lights for me okay." 

"Um sure but I can still make the bus if I run down, and you can just ....."

Melinda gave her an annoyed look. "Skye please just do what I said. You are not walking down there by yourself at dusk in this neighborhood. Natasha did you drive?" She started walking to the door with Natasha while Skye headed off the opposite direction. 

"Oh no I have no car yet, but my cousin, he is waiting in your lot for me." 

"Oh okay good." They had reached the door and Melinda held out her hand again. Natasha shook it. "It was nice to meet you Natasha and I look forward to having you be a part of this place."

"Thank you so much Miss Melinda." She turned to go out the door while Melinda headed back to her office. She put her jacket on, and then grabbed the folder with Natasha's paperwork, and her backpack, turned off the light and closed and locked the door. She grabbed for her keys in her backpack and headed to the main room. Skye showed up at the same time. "You got all the lights back there, right?" 

Skye nodded. "Yep everything's out."

"Okay just let me set the alarm and we can head out." They both walked to the foyer area and Melinda set the alarm. The exited the building and Melinda locked the front doors. 

"You don't lock the back?" 

"They are always locked Skye. You can just get out but not in. Fire safety. Now they are all hooked into the alarm too." She glanced at the girl. "Where's your jacket?" 

"Oh I didn't wear one. It was nice coming here." 

"Well it's late October Skye. You need to wear a jacket." Melinda admonished the girl while they made their way to her vehicle. Skye rolled her eyes. Melinda unlocked the SUV and they got in, Skye sitting in the front passenger seat, Melinda in the driver's. "Buckle up." It was an order not a suggestion. Skye pulled the seatbelt around her setting her backpack at her feet on the floor. 

"So where am I going?" Melinda glanced at the clock on the dashboard noting the time of 4:35.

 

Skye got back at 5:15. It would have been sooner except she gave Melinda wrong directions and Melinda had to backtrack a bit to get her home. She felt horrible for that. But all the landmarks looked different as it was turning dark. Melinda had shrugged it off, saying it was fine. But Skye figured she had to be a little pissed. After all, she had gone out of her way to be nice to Skye and Skye had caused her trouble by being an idiot. 

Only Anne was home, and she was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching TV. 

Skye paused as she stood in the doorway. "Oh hey I'm back." She walked over to hand the remaining $5.50 to the woman. "Thanks again."

Anne Brody looked at the girl with indifference. "Keep it. Use it next time." She shrugged Skye's hand away from her. "Fend for yourself for dinner. Jason and JJ are out at some sport thing, and Ryan is at Thomas's house." Anne picked up a glass as she went back to her show ignoring any more interaction with Skye. 

Skye pocketed the change and headed to the kitchen. She got out a pan and made herself scrambled eggs and toast. She ate quickly, and then cleaned up both her dishes and the rest in the sink. She wiped the counters down, and then grabbed a glass of iced tea and headed to her room. She set the tea down and then went and grabbed a quick shower. After drying her hair and throwing on sweats she sat on her bed leaning back onto the propped up pillows to read her history homework. It was about an hour later when there was a knock on her door. 

"Yeah come in."

Ryan opened the door and walked to her bed and plopped down on it. "Hey how long have you been home?" 

"Since around five."

"I went to Thomas's to hang out and play video games. His mom fed us before I came home. Did you eat Skye?" 

"I made eggs. I'm good. Did you want help with your paper now?" 

"Uh yeah sounds good. Let me get my stuff and something to drink. Kay?" Skye nodded. He bolted out of her room. Skye finished the paragraph she was on and then dropped her book on the floor. She figured she'd finish reading her history assignment before she went to sleep.

The rest of the night consisted of Skye editing and rewriting practically everything Ryan wrote on the computer. At 11 o'clock Skye finally had enough and tossed him and his paper out of her room. Well not literally but she made him leave. 

"I'm done. You have 3/4 done Ry, I'll help tomorrow. You need to help me with bio tomorrow too." 

"Yeah okay. I'm gonna write out the rest before bed and you can check it over tomorrow,"

"Sounds like a plan. Good night." After Ryan left her room, Skye got ready for bed. She sat up and reached for her history book and tried to keep her eyes open long enough to finish the reading. After 15 minutes she gave up since nothing she read made sense. She set the book back on the floor, wiggled under her blankets and fell off to sleep. 

 

After dropping Skye off her house, Melinda stopped for Chinese take out that she called for on her cell phone. There was a little place that served excellent, authentic Chinese food, and was a place Melinda frequented. She pulled into her driveway and sighed. It was 6:00 on a Saturday night and all she wanted to do was eat, take a hot bath and go to bed. She must be getting old she thought. She made her way to the kitchen and dropped the bag of take out on the table. As shrugged off her jacket and threw it on the back of a chair. 

"Hey beautiful."

She grinned and waved to her husband. "I look like shit Phil." She ran her fingers through her dirty hair and looked down at her sweats and overlarge T-shirt covering her body. 

"You look fine to me. Sexy even."

She started pulling containers out of the large bag. "I brought food."

Phil smiled and turned to the cupboard to get some plates. "Wine?" 

She glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "I think I'll stick to tea. I'm so tired the wine might put me to sleep." 

"Yeah about that Melinda. You remember when we decided you would not work weekends? And then when you started working weekends that you said only mornings. You do know what time it is right?" 

"Skye came after my teen class." 

"Oh. That's right. How'd that go?"

"Good. She's tough. A good learner. Good attitude. I also dropped her at her house so she didn't have to take the bus."

They both sat at the table putting various food on their plates. Phil gave Melinda a water bottle. He had the kettle on for tea. 

"Okay but you still work too hard Mel. Too many hours. You need to stop adding classes. People will just have to wait for spots to open. You cannot keep saying yes to everyone." 

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "You mean saying yes to people like Skye?" 

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Well I mean.....she needed.... " 

She laughed at his stuttering. "It's okay Phil. Skye is fine. Oh and by the way, I finally looked at those resumes for a part time assistant instructor."

"You did? Mel that's great! That's what I mean. Give him your Sat and Sun and late night classes." 

"Him?" Melinda smirked. 

"Oh, or her. I don't care Mel. A warm body so I can hold your warm body more. That's all I want."

Melinda snorted. "Selfish reasons eh?" 

"Damn right. I miss my little ninja." 

"Well then it's a good thing I hired someone today. That's why I was even later Phil. I found a promising resume from a woman, and interviewed her today at four."

"You hired her?" 

"Yep. She had an exceptional resume. And had all the clearance paperwork up to date. She's Russian."

At the last word, Phil's eyes widened as he waited for more from his wife. She obliged. 

"She's young, only 28, a college student. She can work nights and weekends. She's a higher dan level in judo than me Phil. Speaks English well, with just a hint of an accent. We talked, I was impressed, so I offered her the job. Fifteen dollars an hour for a twenty five hour week. If she can do well I will increase that after a month. She's only been here in America for four years. Oh and you will love this. She wants to be an FBI agent or something like that. She's studying Criminal Justice."

"Did you tell her you are a former agent Melinda?" 

"Didn't come up." 

"So she seems trustworthy? Safe? Honest?"

"Yes to all of the above."

"Okay then. You always were a good judge of character." 

"Well she is coming in Monday to do her paperwork and then she starts Tuesday. You can meet her then."

"Tuesday. After school. You want me to come by then?"

Every Tuesday. And Thursday. You'll be bringing Skye for her lessons."

"I will be......what Melinda? You tell her that?" 

"I did. You can bring Skye Tuesdays and Thursdays and I'll take her home. I'll have her sessions while Natasha teaches my groups. I don't want her riding the bus or standing at that bus stop alone. She's only fourteen, and in the dark, well it's not like the gym is in the best part of town. It's safe for me, but I drive to the parking lot, I don't walk four blocks."

"Well and yeah anyone who messes with you is coming out on the losing end of that fight." He smiled warmly at his ninja wife. "So Natasha's her name?" 

"Yes. Natasha Romanoff. Red hair to match the fiery personality that I saw. I think she will make a nice fit Phil. I like her already."

They finished their dinner to light flirtatious banter and after cleaning up, they retired to the living room to watch a movie. Melinda did have two glasses of wine then as they watched two older James Bond movies. It was almost midnight when they went to bed, and Melinda fell asleep with Phil's arm around her, almost the moment her head connected with her pillow. 

 

Sunday passed by quickly for Skye. She started the day by getting up at 8am and going for a run. After a quick breakfast, she finished her history reading and homework, finished editing Ryan's paper, and studied bio with Ryan's help. She called Jemma and set up Skype with her and they spent over an hour talking, mostly about Dr. Who. At four o'clock, Sharon Carter came to the house to do her weekly check on the foster home and on Skye. Skye was positive about everything, did not mention her gym class fiasco, and decided to not mention JJ and his friends either. Ms. Carter seemed very glad to get a good report from her and the Brody's. Skye worked on her Tai Chi before going to bed, even getting to bed at the decent hour of 11:00pm. She lay awake for a little with a smile, thinking that maybe, just maybe she had found a place to stay for a long time. 

 

Sunday morning found Melinda sleeping in. She did not wake until 11am. Phil grinned as she plopped herself in the chair after making her way to the kitchen. "It's almost afternoon Phillip. Why'd you let me sleep so late." 

"Do I look like the kind of person who would wake a sleeping bear." 

"Are you comparing me to a bear Phillip?" 

"A teddy bear? A sweet cuddly teddy bear, Melinda." He set her tea down and then ducked out of her way as she swatted at him good naturedly. 

He grinned bigger. "A tired, not very coordinated sweet cuddly teddy bear. " 

"Oh shut up." Her lips threatened to form a smile. 

"What? Is the cuddly teddy bear grumpy today?"

"Phil you are so going to...." 

"I'll make waffles Melinda. In the Mickey Mouse waffle maker. Come on you cannot stay grumpy over Mickey waffles." 

Her face betrayed her as a smile formed. "How old are you again?" 

"Oh you love me so much. And not just for my Mickey waffles either." 

"Add Strawberries and whipped cream and I might just let you have your way with me." She grinned wickedly at him. 

He dropped the bag of flour, as his mouth hung open.

She looked at him and winked. "Or we could skip the waffles and just have strawberries and whipped cream." She smirked as her nerd turned red. 

"Um......I .... need.........to ...shower." 

She got up quickly and stood in front of him. She dropped her robe to the floor. "Oh you will Phil. But after, when you are all sticky would be better. We could do that together too." Phil's eyes widened as he gazed at his little naked ninja. 

It was three in the afternoon when Phil finally made his waffles. They had to use syrup cause, well, cause the strawberries and cream were gone. 

Melinda had to go into her gym at 6pm for one class. A beginner self defense class. This was one she would be turning over to Natasha. She hoped that Natasha proved to be trustworthy cause she really hated working on Sundays. Her plan was to eventually have Natasha teach from 12-7 on Sundays and add in all the new classes she had not been able to before, add in all the people on the waiting list. 

Melinda found herself crawling into bed on Sunday night at 10:00pm. Phil stayed up to watch a football game. Melinda hated football. She fell asleep and did not awake when Phil climbed into bed only an hour later. 

Monday morning arrived. The start of a new week. As Skye got dressed for school she decided she needed to find out just who the cute boy at Melinda's Place was. She decided that would be her mission for the day. As she walked to school her thoughts wondered to the tall boy she had seen. Who was Lincoln? She smiled remembering how his hair got mussed up when Melinda took him down. And how his laughter rang out even as he knew he was being laughed at. His twinkling blue eyes. 

"Hey Skye. Hey. Yo, earth to Skye." 

"Very funny." 

"I thought so. Man were you out of it. Glad I was walking with you. You almost stepped out into the street without looking." 

"Shut up. I did not."

"So what has you in a dream world this morning Skye." 

She stopped and her face grew thoughtful. She masked her emotions and tried asking him nonchalantly. "Do you know a guy named Lincoln. Blond, tall, deep blue eyes that sparkle." Oh my god she sounded like a love sick teen age girl.

Ryan laughed. "Lincoln Campbell. Yeah I know him." 

"Lincoln Campbell." She repeated. Her smile grew larger. Ryan started laughing louder as he saw Skye's face. She gave him a dirty look. 

"Shut up." 

He laughed even louder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More action coming soon. Who are Natasha's cousins? How does Lincoln fit the story? Has Skye found a home?


	7. Shades of Grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye never flirts or crushes on guys. Well unless they have twinkling eyes. Maybe? This chapter we learn more about the past. We meet Grant Ward. A reminder that this is NOT a Ward friendly fic. We also meet Natasha's cousin. This chapter has some trigger stuff. I am warning several times. Triggers for rape, abuse, violence, bullying. Please do not read if this stuff upsets you A lot of coming chapters will have mention of the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for mentions of rape, abuse, and also violence and bullying. Not Grant Ward friendly.

Skye made her way to the library for first period. She would be seeing the doctor after school and he would most likely clear her for gym class. Her wrist was fine already on Saturday when she had been at Miss May's place even though she had kept it wrapped. She just hoped that dodge ball was not on the agenda for a very long time. She walked into the library handing her pass to the librarian, Mrs. Taylor, who smiled at her. Skye sat down at a table and pulled out her laptop. She started working on her English paper which was due the end of the week. By the time the bell rang, she had almost half her rough draft done for the paper. She headed to her second period. Coulson's classroom was at the other end of the building. She was moving pretty lively down the hall, not exactly running, when she heard her name. She glanced back behind her where the voice came from. It was Trip and walking next to him was Lincoln Campbell and he was waving at her. And smiling. 

"Hey wait up." 

Skye slowed her pace and felt her cheeks heat up. She leaned away from the crowd of kids, waiting by the wall of lockers. Soon both Trip and Lincoln were standing in front of her. Trip had a suit and tie on and was grinning. 

"So what's the occasion." Skye motioned to Trip's choice of clothing. 

"Hey girl, you know I look good." He laughed good naturedly, as Lincoln smirked. "Debate Team. We have a match after school today. 

Skye raised her eyebrows at him. "Debate?" 

Lincoln spoke up, his eyes twinkling at her. "He's naturally persuasive. " Okay maybe they weren't twinkling at her, but they were definitely twinkling. And his face was definitely cute. And he was tall. He was very tall and she had to look up to see into his eyes. His twinkling eyes. He was saying something else and Skye had no idea what it was. 

"Um what?" 

"I said you should join debate, I hear you are pretty persuasive yourself." 

"Oh what do you mean?"

"Well I hear you don't take crap from anyone." 

Skye felt herself turning red. "I think this," she held up her bandaged wrist, "might disagree with you." 

Lincoln winked at her. "So what's the other guy look like?" 

"The other guy was a bunch of dodge balls and apparently they and the asswipes who threw them are fine." 

Lincoln frowned. "Oh I heard you took on Raina in a verbal sparring match and won. I didn't hear about the wrist thing." 

Trip shook his head. "Yeah what happened Skye?" 

"I guess I did win the verbal sparring match. Flowers is a sore loser."

"Flowers?" Trip looked confused. 

Lincoln burst into laughter. "Flowers. Skye you nailed it." 

Skye felt her chest tighten up and was momentarily speechless. Praise from Lincoln made her heart swell. And now he was looking at her again with that huge grin and his twinkling eyes. He had said something else. 

"What?" She felt like an idiot. 

"I said, what did you do to piss off the freshman royalty?" 

"I guess I picked the wrong friends. You know, Fitz and Simmons, Thomas, Ryan."

Now Trip frowned. "JJ is an asshole. Him and his whole posse.

"Now tell me something I don't know." Lincoln's smile faded as he looked angry. 

Skye tilted her head to look at Trip. "I thought you played football? I'm sure Leo mentioned that you play football. He's your quarterback, right? 

Trip and Lincoln burst into laughter. Skye looked at them annoyed. 

"We do. Real football. Soccer." Trip managed to say between his bursts of laughter. 

Skye smiled. "Oh yeah. Soccer is football. And Leo is Scottish and he would have..........I mean...... it's real football. You actually um ...... you .......use your feet, yeah .... and um I need to get to class. I'm gonna be late." 

Lincoln looked at her obviously amused. "Oh hey we'll walk you." He motioned for Skye to walk between them. "Where you going?" 

"History. Mr. C's room."

Lincoln smiled. "Ah yes. Miss May's husband. Best teacher here." 

Skye had no argument with that statement. They walked her to the door of Coulson's classroom. Bidding her goodbye, they left and continued to their Economics classroom a few doors down. She watched them go with a goofy smile on her face. Before he went in his classroom, Lincoln turned and caught her staring. He smiled and saluted her. She laughed and was still laughing as she entered the room. His damn eyes twinkled at her again. 

Phil looked up from his lesson as he heard laughter. He watched as Skye sat down in her seat laughing. She glanced up and he caught her eye. Her eyes were bright , her cheeks flushed and she was still laughing. She quieted and turned away from his gaze, reaching for her history book in her backpack. The smile remained on her face as she glanced back at him. He smiled back at her. He was glad to see her happy. 

"So everyone put your books away and take out a pencil. It's pop quiz time." There was a collective grown around the room. Phil grinned. 

Skye sat next to Jemma in the lunchroom. Jemma had brought extra food and was currently trying to get Skye to take a PB&J and juice from her. Skye rolled her eyes. 

"Honestly Jems, the food today isn't that bad. You should eat your own lunch."

Thomas shook his head, sitting across from them. "Just take it Skye. Jemma brought extra. She thinks you are malnourished and has gone into mom mode or something. 

Jemma scowled at him. "These school lunches are not the best Skye. You don't even eat the vegetables usually. At least drink the V-eight juice. It's full of vitamins. And didn't you say you want to get in top shape? And the sandwich has carbs you need since you are running now." 

Skye rolled her eyes. But took the two items. Actually her lunch today was mediocre, consisting of a Chicken patty sandwich and milk, and apple slices. She hadn't taken the nasty brussel sprouts or green beans. She bite into the sandwich and grinned. Strawberry jam. Jemma listened to everything she said apparently. She'd have to remember that. Jemma nodded satisfied that Skye wouldn't starve. 

"This is good Jemma, but you don't need to bring me food daily. I get free lunch. I'm sure your aunt wouldn't want you feeding me." 

"Oh psssst. My aunt insisted when I told her why I was bringing the extra food. She likes you."

That made Skye sputter. "She likes me. She never met me." 

"Oh I told her about you. She likes your spunk, as she called it. Saw you when she passed by when we were skyping too. I think she knows Mr. C's wife. They worked together on something a while back. Some security thing." 

"What exactly does your aunt do Jemma?" This came from Thomas. 

Jemma paused and thought for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure actually. Some kind of cyber stuff. Government security I think."

"Like a programmer? Troubleshooter? Computers?" Skye was curious now. 

"Yeah something like that. Cyber safety of secured files. Yeah I think that's it." 

Skye's mind whirled. Whoa that was interesting. Secured government files. That might mean redacted files. Maybe she could hack into whatever Jemma's aunt worked for and find her file. 

"So Jemma what are you doing after school today?" Skye tried not to sound too eager. 

Jemma looked over at her. "I have drama practice right after school till 5:00 and then I need to go home and study for a chemistry test. Why?" 

"Oh just wondering if you wanted to hang out. I don't have anything going on. That's cool though. Maybe another night. I didn't know you were in the school play?" 

"Oh no, not in it Skye. I'm the stage manager. My parents said I needed to be in something other then academic clubs, so I joined drama. I'm a terrible actress but I excel at preparation and organization and so they made me manager." 

Skye laughed. "Yes that makes total sense." 

"So how about tomorrow Skye? After 5 of course." 

"Huh, Oh sorry I go to Miss May's on Tuesdays. And Thursdays. Wednesday?" 

Jemma shook her head. "Wednesday is Science club from 7-9." 

"Uh well how about Saturday? I mean I'd invite you to my place but well, JJ and..........."

"No, no Skye that's fine. Vic is always telling me to invite people other then Fitz over."

"Well I'm at Miss May's till 4 or so, so I could come by after that." 

 

"Yes. That's sound amazing. Why don't you stay over. I have bunks in my room. I'll just have to take my books off the top one. And change the sheets...."

"Sounds great Jems. I run it by Mrs. Brody, but I'm sure she won't care."

Jemma grinned. "Oh we could have pizza and watch TV and talk and stay up late and......"

Skye laughed. "Sure Jemma. I look forward to a sleepover at your house." Skye started putting trash on her tray and stood up when a voice behind Thomas spoke up. 

"Sleepover huh? I wouldn't mind you sleeping over at my house." A tall, brown haired, square chinned guy winked at her. He looked her up and down As though she were a piece of meat, as a pleased expression came to his face. "No I wouldn't mind that at all." 

Jemma turned a bit pale, as Skye saw Thomas wince. 

"Shut up Grant. Skye's my friend."

"Well little buddy, she could be my friend too." He leered at her, and licked his lips. "We all know I get whatever I want."

"Well I guess there's always room for a first in your life." Skye looked at him defiantly. 

He laughed. "JJ said you were a firecracker. Spunk. I like it. Right up to the moment I tame it." 

Thomas got up. "Leave her alone Grant. I'm warning you." 

"Sit down Tommy." Grant pushed his brother back into the seat, squeezing his shoulder hard. Do not get involved little bro. Remember how that worked out for you last time."

Thomas grimaced from the obvious pain his brother was causing. Jemma looked like she was going to faint, she was so pale. None of the kids around them did anything. They watched or went back to their own lives happy they were not involved. 

"Let him go. You're hurting him." Skye tried to keep her voice from shaking. 

"Hurting him. Nah, this is just me reminding him of his place. You'd be wise to remember yours as well."

"Fuck you." 

Grant grinned wickedly. "Oh that you might do sweetie. If I say so. You better watch how it's done....huh.." 

Grant was swung around was face to face with Lincoln. He swung at him but Lincoln stopped his punch and Lincoln's fist hit his jaw. He dropped to the ground. Lincoln towered over him. "You best stay away from her Ward. And your asshole friends too."

Grant got up slowly, eyeing Lincoln. "Sucker punch." 

"You swung first Ward. You started it. I'm ending it." 

Thomas had stood up again and was staring wide eyed at the two of them. The kids at the tables near them had stood up and the crowd had temporarily blocked the teacher's view. Two teachers made their way to them. 

"What is going on?" Mr. Archer asked. He was a Math teacher and also the soccer coach. 

Lincoln shrugged his shoulders. Grant grinned.

"Nothing. I was just getting to know the new girl." he smirked at Skye. 

Mr. Branson accessed the situation quickly. "You guys have girl issues you keep it off school property. Do I make myself clear? Anyone want to tell me what happened or are we done here?" 

"I don't want to cause any problems sir. I'm fine." Grant spoke up. 

Lincoln nodded. "I think we're done." 

"Then move on and move out. All of you. The bell is about to ring anyway." 

Lincoln's eyes flashed dangerously for a few seconds, as Skye watched him. He looked over at her and the anger disappeared as concern took over. He mouthed the words 'You okay'?" She nodded as she bit her lower lip. Jemma had her arm looped through Skye's and was trying to get her to leave. Lincoln turned and allowed himself to be escorted out of the cafeteria by Mr. Archer. Ward turned and smiled sweetly at his brother, as he rubbed his jaw line. He followed Mr. Branson out the aisle to the door away from the one Lincoln was exiting. Skye and Jemma and Thomas quickly deposited their trays and trash, and then headed into the hall way as the bell sounded. 

"Thomas are you okay." Skye's concern evident in her voice as she stopped to check on her friend. 

He nodded. "Yeah that was nothing. Believe me that was nothing." 

That made Skye mad. She turned to face Thomas making him stop in front of her. "He should not be hurting you Thomas. You need to tell your parents. He's a bully." 

Thomas looked at the floor. "I'm sorry."

Skye's heart stopped. He was apologizing. For someone abusing him. How often had she done the same. 

"Yeah I get it. I'm sorry too." 

Jemma was lost. Why were they apologizing. She looked from one to the other. Skye just shook her head at her. 

"Thomas. You have to stand up to him. We have to stand up to them." 

Thomas scuffed his shoes against the floor continuing to look down. Finally he spoke. "I can't Skye. I can't hang around you anymore either." At that he took off down the hall running from both of them. 

Skye sighed and leaned against the wall. She felt a tear threaten to fall. She sniffled and then felt Jemma's hand close around hers. She looked up and gave her a small smile. 

"He's just upset now. He'll come round. You should just let him be for a while. That's all." 

Skye nodded. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and still holding Jemma's hand they walked down the hall together. 

Ryan had cross country practice so Anne Brody picked up only Skye after school and took her to the doctor. He checked her over and cleared her for gym class. Wonderful. Mrs. Brody stopped at a burger joint to pick up take out, saying was going out to a movie. That was fine with Skye. Mrs. Brody wasn't nasty or anything, she just didn't talk to Skye more than absolutely necessary. She grabbed a glass of chocolate milk and the take out bag and headed to her room to do her homework and study for her upcoming history test. It wasn't until Thursday but she wanted to ace it. She had gotten a 100% on the pop quiz Mr. C. pulled today. She grinned to herself remembering the groans from the class. She'd have to be prepared for those. She finished her biology homework and was working on her English paper when her phone rang. She looked at the number and did not recognize it. 

"Hello?' 

"Hey Skye. It's me. Lincoln. Hope you don't mind but I got your cell number from Ryan. I saw him in the locker room before soccer practice."

Oh. "Um no that's okay. Is practice over?" 

"Yeah. So are you okay?" 

"Me? Yeah I'm fine. Thomas is still shaken."

The line was quiet for a few beats. "Yeah. Thomas is a good kid. I guess the rumors are true. Grant does bully him." 

"He does more than bully, he hurts him. Thomas said he can't hang around me anymore." 

"I'm sorry Skye."

"Yeah there's a lot of that going around."

Lincoln sighed. "I'm sorry for what that jerk said to you. he has no right. Him and Brody and that crew think they are above the rules. Hell maybe they are. They seem to skate off without ever paying for the shit they do. Others pay though. Like Joey."

"Joey? Oh yeah, Ryan mentioned a Joey. Wouldn't tell me what happened though." 

"Joey's a good guy Skye. Don't believe what they say. He just went a bit postal after what happened to Lanie."

"Lanie?" 

"Yolanda. Most everyone calls her Lanie. She's his cousin. They were more like brother and sister though. Lanie was pretty tight with that girl Simmons. The one you were with today." 

"I heard that Joey is in juvie. For beating the crap out of JJ. That true?" 

"Uhhuh. But there's more to it than that. Lanie was dating Grant Ward. We all thought it odd cause well Lanie would hang with the ...well ...the .." 

"Geeks? Science nerds? Weirdos? Like me and my friends?"

"Actually I was going to say the smarter kids."

"No you weren't. But that's okay. You were trying to be nice." 

Lincoln laughed. "Hey Trip's a nerd and he's sort of cool." 

Skye laughed a little. "So what happened?" 

"Well this happened last year. Spring. Lanie was a freshman and all of a sudden the freshman hierarchy started being nice to her. Inviting her to their table for lunch. Talking in classes to her. Not being mean. Then next we know she's dating Grant Ward. He actually appeared happy with her. Joey was on the football team and he had grown up with Grant and JJ. They started including him more and both he and Lanie seemed happy. They had been nasty to Joey since the beginning of the school year, since he came out, but they seemed to accept him finally."

"Since he came out? What .... oh shit, nevermind. So he's gay."

"Yep. And that did not sit well with JJ and Grant at first. They even tried to get him thrown off the football team. Garrett supported them, but the school board got wind and Garrett backed down."

"Garrett's an ass."

"Yeah no kidding. Anyway something happened. To Lanie. She was raped." 

"Grant raped her?" 

Lincoln paused. "Look Skye nothing was ever proven. But according to Joey, not Grant. JJ and some of the other football players. Grant dating Lanie and the kids being nice was all a set up for Lanie and Joey to let their guard down. It was all to payback cause they saw Joey's sexual orientation as a threat to them. And Lanie was the pawn they used to keep all the geeks in line."

Skye couldn't breathe for a few seconds. 

"Skye? Hey you okay?" 

"Why aren't they in jail?"

"No proof. Kids swore on oath that JJ and the others were with them. Not one kid would speak up. It was Lanie's word against them."

"So Joey took the law into his own hands."

"Yep. And he's the one sitting in juvie now. They couldn't prove anything Skye. Lanie is home schooled and I don't think she talks to anyone from school anymore."

"How can they ....I mean..."

"Skye. Grant Ward's father is a State Senator. Brody, the guy whose house you are living in is a lawyer. I think he is tight with Mr. Malick's brother, some bigwig on the political spectrum, Gideon Malick. As far as I'm concerned they are all crooked. And the apples don't fall far from the trees. JJ is the golden boy. The All American. Perfect son. No one can touch him."

"What about the teachers? The parents? I mean how the hell do they let this crap happen?"

"Because a lot don't know. Some look the other way. And there is never any proof. I mean it's killing my mom to see this going on in her school and she can't stop it."

"Your mom?" 

"Yeah Rosalind Price. The principal. Well she's actually my stepmom but I was 10 when she married my dad and I never knew my birth mom so.... I call her mom. Except in school." He laughed. It was very quiet. "Hey Skye, you still there?" 

"Your mom's the principal?" 

"Yeah weird huh." 

"You think?" 

"Oh come on. Principal's have kids too." He laughed loudly. 

"Yeah I guess. Oh hey, Miss May is gonna let me watch your class on Saturday. Says soon as I get good enough I can join."

"Really? We are an advanced class. How long have you been doing Martial Arts?"

"Uh a week. Almost." 

"Whoa. She must really like you." 

"Um I'm taking classes 3 times a week. Individual ones. She says I have potential."

Lincoln whistled. "Individual. Wow. You have a stash of money somewhere? She charges like $40 an hour for individual classes. I know. When my mom started me a couple years ago I took one. She and my mom are friends. They went to college together."

Skye was dumbstruck. $40. Shit she already had two classes for 2 hours each. $160. No way that her little bit of cleaning covered even close to that. Skye felt her throat tighten. 

"Hey Skye you there?"

"Yeah. Hey I have to go. I have a paper to write and a test to study for."

"Ah okay. I'll see you tomorrow." 

She smiled. "Okay. Oh Lincoln. Thanks. For protecting me. It was a nice punch." 

"Anytime. But I do recommend just staying out of their way."

"Yeah so I've heard. Goodnight."

Skye tossed her phone on the bed next to her. She reached under her bed to grab her Ipod and earphones. She sat back propping a pillow against the headboard. As the music played her mind wandered to a woman who would offer to teach a complete stranger self defense, knowing damn well how much money she was losing.

 

Melinda waited in her office for Natasha to show up. Natasha walked into Melinda's office at 2:45. 

Melinda greeted her warmly. "Good afternoon Natasha. No change of heart then." 

"Change of heart?" Natasha looked at her puzzled. 

Melinda chuckled. "No change of mind. You still want the job?" 

"Oh yes. It is perfect job for me. My cousins are so excited. They are happy you are giving me a chance. I will do good job, I make promise to you. You did not change your mind?"

"Oh no Natasha. Not at all. Why don't we get this paperwork filled out. Sit down." Melinda pointed to the chair next to her desk. 

A little over a hour later, Melinda put the last paper in the folder and sighed. She handed Natasha her copies and stood up. 

"Welcome to Melinda's Place. You are officially an instructor."

Natasha beamed at her. She took her hand shaking it vigorously. "Thank you so much Miss May."

"Melinda."

"Yes. Miss Melinda. I am so grateful."

Melinda smiled. Between this bright young woman and her newest student, she noticed she was doing an awful lot of that lately. 

"So do you need to call for your ride or did you drive."

"Oh no he waits in parking lot. He thought time would not take too long for paperwork." 

"Oh you could have invited him in Natasha."

"No is fine. He is reading. He goes to University too." 

"Well I'm finished for the day. I keep my Monday nights free. So let me lock up and I'll walk out with you."

Natasha nodded. After Melinda locked up she walked to the parking lot. A young man jumped out of his car when he saw the two approaching. 

"Miss Melinda. This is cousin. Pietro. Pietro, Miss Melinda May. My new boss." 

"I am pleased to meet our Natasha's new employer. Thank you so much for giving her this chance." He held out his hand. 

Melinda took it and smiled. "I should be thanking her for agreeing to work here. I really need the help and I believe Natasha is going to do great."

"Yes. She is good person. Some people won't hire us though. Because we are not from here. But we love this country. I am already an American. My sister and cousin soon to be." 

` "Well Pietro. My father and mother weren't from here either. But now we all are." 

"Yes, yes. We are all now. Come Tash, we need to pick up items at grocery store on way home." 

"I will see you tomorrow Miss Melinda." 

"Yes. Have a nice evening." 

Pietro bowed to her and Natasha waved. Melinda got in her car still smiling. She called Phil. 

"Hey Mel." 

"Babe, let's go out tonight." 

"Um okay. What's going on."

"Celebrating. I have a new employee, and a great husband."

"Yeah okay but I'm still at school. Meeting with Roz."

"Well bring her and tell her to call Daniel. I'm going to freshen up at home and we can meet at The Providence Cafe' At 6:00."

She heard him talking to Roz. 

"Roz wants to know how you are going to get a table without a reservation?" 

"The owner likes me. I set up his security system. He owes me one." 

Phil laughed. He relayed the info to Roz who Melinda heard laughing. 

"Roz says yes, and she will drag Daniel with her. See you there." 

"I love you babe."

"I'm getting laid tonight aren't I?" 

"Damn straight. Roz is choking eh?" 

"Oh yeah. Now she's yelling about too much info." 

"Blow her a kiss for me babe. See you soon."


	8. Puzzle Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New characters. Everything is connected. Skye learns new things. Friendships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated. This story has a lot going on. Still in the groundwork stage. More action coming soon. I have a plan. This story is fun to write. Thanks for reading.

The rest of the week flew by quickly for Skye. She avoided Raina and Grant and JJ, and the rest fairly well, while Thomas avoided her. He did not sit with them at lunch but they did gain two others, as Lincoln and Trip moved to their table. Lincoln and Trip had the same sense of humor, and lightness about them. Their friendship was to be envied as Skye found herself watching them interact with ease and humor. 

She never had a friendship like theirs. Never was really close to anyone. Yes, the moving from foster home to foster home left little chance for long term friendships as a kid. Even in the orphanage she was always a loner. Never really fitting in anywhere. She wasn't athletic and didn't know much about sports. She wasn't a girly girl or cheerleader type. She wasn't big on video games or social media stuff. She found TV to be boring and never watched the current popular shows. Obviously, she was never in fashion - wearing hand me downs or rarely new clothes donated to the orphanage, with an occasional shoplifted item here and there. So when she was young, because she didn't really fit in a particular group, and moved around so much, she never had a BFF or a group of friends. It was later when she turned 11 or 12, when she purposefully pushed people away. It was just a way she coped. It was her against the world. 

But now as she looked around the lunch table, she smiled. She had friends. People who purposefully sought her out. Invited her to be a part of their lives. Lincoln who was witty and charming with his twinkling eyes. Trip, who had made her feel welcome her first day in computer class, and surprised her nearly every day with his knowledge about everything. Leo, the boy she had crashed into, who she connected with immediately. Ryan who she already thought of as her brother, and finally Jemma, who was scared but had eventually let her guard down and now not only talked Skye's ear off at lunch but called and skyped her all the time. 

Skye looked at Jemma who was going on and on about the sleepover tonight and what movies they would watch and what food they would eat. It was finally Friday. She was going to her new friend's house. Skye momentarily frowned remembering her ulterior motive for going to Jemmas's place. But she really did like her and wanted to spend time with her too. Just cause she might find something out about her redacted file didn't mean she was using her new friend did it? 

 

"Right Skye?"

Hearing her name shook her from her thoughts. "What Jem. Um I was thinking of my upcoming bio test. Sorry I'm kinda worried about it." Well she was worried about it. It really was just a deflection, not a lie. 

"Oh Skye. Don't worry so much. You'll do fine. Ryan said you knew everything last night when you studied with him." Jemma reached over and squeezed her arm and looked at her sympathetically. "I was just saying we could watch all the Bourne movies unless you have another suggestion." 

Skye shook her head. "No that'd be fine. I love spy movies." 

Jemma nodded and pushed her extra PB&J sandwich onto Skye's tray. Skye picked it up and took a bite around her grin. Jemma packed extra food everyday now for Skye and well, it tasted better than the cafeteria food so why not. Yes, she had a great group of real honest to goodness friends. She glanced next to her and her grin disappeared. Thomas. He had not sat with them since the incident, as Leo was calling it. 

Lincoln saw her looking and her expression. "Hey Skye. Give the little dude some space. He's a smart kid. He'll work through it." He smiled at her. She'd have to remember to add reading minds to Lincoln's impressive list of attributes. 

Skye nodded. "I just feel responsible, you know." 

"Well you needn't. That's all on his brother." Leo looked at her annoyed. "You didn't invite that jerk to bother you."

She looked at them as four heads nodded in unison. She couldn't help but smile back at all of them. Her friends. 

 

Melinda smiled at Natasha as Natasha made her way to her office. It was 2:00pm on Friday afternoon, and Melinda only had one more class to teach before she turned over the place to Natasha. It would be the second night that Natasha was going to lock up and Melinda was thrilled to be able to get home when Phil did. Natasha would be teaching three classes on Friday nights, and she had already proven to be quite capable to do so, and to clean afterwards, and lock up. The students that Natasha taught so far seemed to genuinely like her. 

"Hello Miss Melinda. I will change and after be ready to go."

Melinda grinned at Natasha. She had given up trying to get the woman to call her Melinda or even May. Natasha called her Miss Melinda each and every time. 

"Hi Natasha. That's fine. How was school today."

"It was disgusting. I had to dissect a sheep heart." She involuntarily shivered. "Ugh why I need biology to be an agent I have no idea." 

Melinda laughed and then questioned. "An agent?"

"Yes. Once I get my degree I will apply to your FBI. I want to help stop bad people from hurting good people." 

"Well when you get to that point let me know. I might know some people." 

"You know FBI people?"

Melinda smiled. "Yes. I was an agent." 

"You were.....agent? You were with FBI?" Natasha's eyes widened as she gazed at her boss. 

"Yes, It was another part of my life and while ago. You could use me as a reference though. I left on good terms." Melinda pursed her lips and stiffened.

Natasha knew to back off seeing Melinda's posture and reading her discomfort. "Thank you I will remember later." She turned and headed to the lockers to get ready for her class. 

Melinda sat back down and clicked the computer. The screen came back up as she continued her work. Her thoughts soon drifted to Skye. She had come on both Tuesday and Thursday from school with her husband. She was catching on very quickly and Melinda noticed she looked more toned and fit, even in such a brief amount of time. She could tell she was running. He breathing was better. Melinda shook her head. Both nights Skye had insisted she could take the bus home and both nights Melinda had taken her home. Tuesday, it was so quiet in the car, that Melinda had turned the radio on. The oldies rock station was on and Melinda had been surprised that Skye knew the songs that were being played. She was singing along. Skye told her that a foster home she was in when she was eight had been oldies fans. Melinda smiled as she thought of the young girl singing along to "Crocodile Rock". She had a good voice. 

Thursday on the drive home, Skye had rambled on about her friend Jemma and some sleepover she was going to. Apparently Skye was getting comfortable enough around her to talk. Melinda frowned when she remembered Skye's question. She had asked what people did at sleepovers. Melinda had looked at the young girl in amazement voicing that surely Skye had been at a sleepover before, but when Skye had shaken her head and looked embarrassed, Melinda had wanted to kick herself. After that the conversation stopped with Melinda not knowing what to say. 

Melinda paused in her work and sighed. She was just not good with kids. Not good with people. Not anymore. Not since that day when her world was ripped apart into pieces. Phil was good with people. That was his thing not hers. 

Natasha appeared in the doorway again. "So I am teaching police next, yes?"

Melinda looked up. "Yes. Some of the local police. They all are decently trained in self-defense but they want to be prepared better. There are seven total, four men and three women. I'll introduce you and help for tonight's class, but next week, you will take over. After that you have a mid level kids group of fourteen kids ages ten and eleven, and then the last class is beginner adults, mostly over age forty."

Natasha nodded as she heard the door and looked up to watch the people entering. The first man was very large and laughing at something the shorter man behind him was saying. They were followed by three women who headed off to the lockers immediately, a tall blond woman waving and smiling at May. The two men also made their way to the men's locker room. 

"The blond woman is my sister-in-law, Bobbi. The other two women work with her; Elena Rodrigues, she is new and this is her second lesson, and Captain Isabelle Hartley. The two men are Alphonso Mackenzie and Lance Hunter." 

Natasha nodded. "Your sister in law is police?"

"Yes. She is actually my husband's half sister. His mother remarried and Bobbi was born when he was already 16. She's been a detective for eight years." 

Just then two more men walked in. They were both about the same height. The first one glanced toward the office and smiled. Melinda waved. 

"Hi Scott. How's your little girl? Better I hope." 

He walked closer and grinned. "Yes. She is. She is totally bummed about missing your class for the next few weeks, but I'm just glad all she got was a broken arm. 

"You tell Cassie I hope she recovers quickly and I will miss her. Hello Clint."

The other man looked at Melinda and smiled. "Hey Mels." 

Melinda rolled her eyes at the man. "I'd like to introduce you two clowns to my new instructor. She will be taking over your class after tonight. This is Natasha Romanoff." Melinda paused and then continued. "Natasha these are two people I used to work with a lot when the FBI and police worked on cases together. Clint Barton and Scott Lang." 

Scott offered his hand. "Please to meet you. Um Mel I didn't know you wouldn't be teaching us anymore." His voice sounded like a pout. "I mean nothing personal", he glanced to Natasha, "but you," looking back at Melinda, "are the absolute best." 

"She's only one dan level below me in tae kwon do and one above me in Judo. I'm sure there is plenty you can learn from Natasha. Anyway I'm here yet tonight, we will teach together tonight."

"So you're leaving us, Melinda?" The question came from Isabelle as the three women stood near them apparently having heard at least part of the conversation. 

"Well, I need to spend some time at home. Phil insisted."

"Of course he did. He's a bit needy. " Bobbi spoke up grinning at her. "Hi I'm Bobbi, this is Izzy and this here is the new rookie, Elena." She held out her hand to Natasha. 

Natasha took it and smiled warmly at the other woman. "Nice to meet the sister of Miss Melinda's husband." 

Bobbi laughed. Izzy and Scott smiled picking up on the Russian accent. 

Two voices bantering back and forth were heard as Mack and Hunter came into sight.

"So let's get this show started shall we. I've places to be later." 

"Shut up Hunter. Come meet our new teacher." Bobbi practically pushed him in front of her. 

"Oh hey. Hello there." He looked her up and down. "Yah nice. But I prefer blonds myself. But Mack here is single."

Melinda rolled her eyes at Hunter while Bobbi smacked him. Mack quickly looked at Elena smiling shyly. 

Scott spoke up. "Geez trainspotting. You don't even know what team she plays on yet."

"I'm not Scottish."

Izzy spoke up. "Definitely not my team." She nodded toward Clint and back to Natasha who were definitely staring at each other. Intently. 

Clint picked up on the attention and all of a sudden he grew quiet and found the picture of the ocean that was hanging on the wall intriguing. Natasha noticed all the others staring at her and her face turned the color of her hair. She looked down at her feet. 

Melinda threw her hands up in the air. "My teen classes behave better than the lot of you. Let's go children. Class is starting."

 

Melinda watched as Natasha sparred with each of them. She marveled at her good fortune to have found such a treasure in her new employee. Natasha picked up quickly at what stage of training each of the class needed. Melinda herself had led the class through their warm up and basic moves before turning it over to Natasha. Natasha had already sparred one on one with Scott and Izzy proving to be a tough opponent to take down. Melinda had sparred with Bobbi and Elena. Natasha was currently showing Hunter that has swag and bravado was no match for her quickness and agility. 

"Okay I'm done." Hunter rubbed his head as he lay once more on the mat with Natasha hovering over him. She offered her hand and pulled him up. He walked over to Bobbi and sulked. 

Clint was the only one who had not sparred, he had shaken his head no at Melinda's invitation. He stepped onto the mat.

"Guess it's my turn." He gave Natasha a small smile. "I won't go down as easy as Hunter. Fair warning."

Natasha grinned at him. "You should probably know that I was holding back so far. Fair warning." 

Melinda raised her eyebrows. Were these two flirting? She glanced at Mack who was too busy checking out Elena to notice. Melinda crossed her arms and watched. Natasha waited for Clint to make a move, then proceeded to pounce on him. 

Forty minutes later, Melinda made her way from the locker room, her hair still wet from her shower. She headed to her office to grab her keys, watching the class in session. Natasha was instructing the kids class. Melinda stopped short of the door to her office, seeing Clint still in the building. He was sitting, leaning against the far wall watching the class. Actually more like watching Natasha. She walked over to him and slid down next to him. 

"Um Clint stalking is against the law." 

"She's something huh? Got all those moves. She took me down more times then I can count." His face held a smile. 

"Yes she's very good. That's why she's working here. You on the other hand.............."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Oh I offered to take her home. She said her cousin was going to have a hard time picking her up cause of his work schedule so I offered to take her home."

"So you're going to stay for the two classes? To take her home. Honestly Clint if you do anything stupid..........."

He turned to look at her. "What? Oh no Mels, um ....I ........wouldn't....um.........I mean I ..........I .......I don't know. I like her. You know. She's ............it's just...........um..........." 

Melinda laughed. "You usually are never at a loss for words. Cold and calculating. A sniper. They call you Hawkeye for a reason. But she has you a bit flustered. This is priceless."

"Shut up Mels." 

"Aw it's sweet."

He glared at her. 

"I mean it's been a long time since Laura.........."

"Yeah well I don't need that reminder." He frowned.

 

"Sorry. You know she is the loser right? Leaving you for Quinn." 

"He's so dirty Mels. We just can't find substantial proof. The great and wonderful Ian Quinn. The rich Ian Quinn. The powerful and altruistic wonder boy. I was never gonna be good enough. Nor was my police salary."

"Well at least you found out before you got married." 

"Yeah two weeks before. It was great."

She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Grouch." 

She sat with him for a few more minutes shoulder to shoulder watching Natasha teach the young class. 

"Well I should get home to my husband. After all that's why I hired Natasha." She pulled herself up and stood in front oh him. 

"Tell Phil I'll give him a call soon."

"Better yet Clint, stop by and see him. It's been awhile." 

He nodded. Melinda walked back to her office, grabbed her keys and headed out the door. 

 

It was Lincoln who dropped Jemma and Skye off at Jemma's house after school. Skye had stuffed her backpack with what she needed. They were just going to walk, but Lincoln insisted on driving them. She waved goodbye as he pulled his car away from the curb. Jemma was already at the door of the house waiting for Skye.

"Come on Skye. Hurry." 

Hurry? Why? Skye slowly walked to Jemma. She was worried about meeting Jemma's aunt. What if she didn't like her? What if she talked down to her like some parents did? Skye remembered once going over to a girl's house after school to work on a project. She was ten. The girl was actually very friendly to her, her name was Karen. But once at the house the mother was very much a bitch. Referring to her as the foster kid once, the orphan another time. Watching her like a hawk to make sure she didn't steal anything. After they did their project, Karen had never talked to her again. She stepped up the last step as Jemma opened the door and Jemma pulled her inside the house. 

"Aunt Vic, I'm home! And Skye's with!"

Jemma pulled her into the kitchen. Standing by the counter was a woman with dark hair with red streaks. She looked angry. Skye shrank back. Then the woman smiled and her face lit up. 

"Hiya Jemmy. And Skye. Good to finally meet you. Jemmy talks about you all the time."

"Only good things I hope." Skye smiled back. She then nudged the other girl and whispered, "Jemmy?" 

Jemma shrugged. "She's always called me that."

"Aw that's cute."

"So what are you two up to tonight?"

"You know, the usual. Movies. Pizza. Junk food. Gossip. That's what girls do at sleepovers, right Skye?"

"Um yeah I guess."

Victoria noticed Skye's discomfort. "Well I would guess that since it's your sleepover you two can do whatever you want. I'm going to grab a shower and get ready. Here Jemmy, thirty should cover your pizza order. Call it in when you want."

"Oh, are you going out Aunt Vic?" 

Victoria smiled. "Yes. I won't be too late though. Izzy and I are going to see a movie. I should be home by 10 or so. She's picking me up after her martial arts class." 

That perked up Skye's ears. "Martial Arts? She's an instructor?" 

"Oh no. She takes a class over at a gym in mid town, run by Melinda May." 

Skye grinned. "I take lessons from Miss May too. She's awesome."

Victoria smiled. "Yes, she is. I've known Melinda for a few years. She worked with me on a few security projects over the years." 

"That's Mr. Coulson's wife, isn't it." Jemma chimed in. "Do you know him too?" 

"Not well. Just met him a few times in social circles. He had a rough time about 6 years back. Both of them did."

"What happened?" Skye took the juice bottle Jemma offered her as they sat at the table. 

Victoria paused wondering if she should continue, and then did. "There was a car accident. Mr. Coulson was hurt badly. He missed an entire year of teaching, with recovery and therapy. Melinda was hurt but recovered okay." Victoria's voice grew quieter. "They lost their son. He was only seven."

Oh wow. Skye's eyes watered. They had lost their child. "That's horrible." 

Jemma nodded. "I never knew that."

"Very sad yes." Victoria continued. "Melinda quit her job to take care of her husband. From what Izzy tells me she has never been the same. She grew colder, more distant, smiled a lot less. Izzy knew her better than me. Also it was a hit and run too. They never did catch the guy. Izzy and the others worked on the case for a long time. So there was no closure with that. The car that hit them was unregistered, stolen from a car lot, and the person driving just disappeared." 

Skye stared at her juice. "Mr. C seems okay now." 

` "Yeah but it still must be terrible to live with." Jemma got up and grabbed some snack bags from the cabinet. "Come on Skye, I want to show you my room."

"Yeah I need to get ready. Izzy will be here soon." 

Skye followed Jemma out of the room and up the stairway. 

 

It was a little after nine, when Skye found herself in Victoria Hand's office. It had only taken her two minutes to hack onto the computer and she was currently cross referencing her redacted file with 'secure' files on various security sites. Jemma was currently in her room setting up the next movie and was going to make popcorn. Skye had excused herself to use the bathroom. She only hoped Jemma did not come looking for her. It was taking longer than she had anticipated. If nothing hit soon she was going to have to give up and maybe try while Victoria Hand and Jemma were sleeping. She was about to close everything down when she heard a soft beep. She typed frantically and then stared. 

It was two names. First names only. She typed again hoping more would appear. Nothing. She glanced at the time. She had been gone almost 20 minutes and Jemma was going to come looking for her. 

She shut everything down. Maybe she'd go back on later. For now she memorized the two words that popped up. Jiaying. Daisy. Her heart was pounding and she repeated them in her brain. Jiaying. Daisy. Was one of them her mother? Jiaying was Chinese. Her mother was Chinese. Skye's heart fluttered and she smiled. Tears welled up in her eyes. She stepped out of the room and quietly made her way up the stairs. Jiaying. She wiped at her eyes before opening the door to Jemma's room. Jiaying. 

 

The call came at 2pm. Melinda reached the phone first. Phil watched her face as she talked. After listening for a minute, she handed the phone to him. 

"Hello." 

"Mr. Coulson. It's Sharon Carter. We have an emergency foster care need. Are you willing to take him in," 

"What?Now? It's 2am."

"Yes and I'm sorry but I've run out of options. He needs a place to stay right now."

Phil sat up more. "Yes. Of course. We will. What do I need to do." 

Melinda sighed and got out of bed. She started getting dressed, listening to her husband's side of the conversation. 

"Oh okay. So you'll drop him off here in about 20 minutes. Not a problem. "

Melinda raised her eyebrows at that. 

"Yes fine. A room will be ready. ..............Yes...................See you then."

Phil got up after placing the phone down. "I'm going to get the room ready. I'll make the bed up." 

"I'll put on the coffee." Melinda already dressed walked to the door. "I take it, she is bringing a boy. How old? Did she tell you a name?" 

"She did. He's 12. Donnie Gill."


	9. Chess Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter. It's been a while since an update, so I felt bad and made this one pretty long. As usual it contains some fluff, some angst, bonding, and some story movement.

The boy stood in the doorway with Sharon Carter. He had a bandage across his right cheek and a cast on his left wrist. He held tightly to a backpack on his right shoulder. His dark brown hair was cut short and his blue eyes pierced with anger as he scowled at Phil and Melinda. 

"Donnie these are the people you will stay with for a few days. Till we can reach your aunt. Mr. and Mrs. Coulson. 

"Hi Donnie. You can call me Phil." He held out his hand but the boy ignored it. Phil put his hand down. "And this is Melinda. Come on, how about I take you to your room so you can sleep." Phil reached to bring his arm up to the boy's shoulder. 

Sharon was shaking her head which Melinda caught but Phil did not. Donnie squirmed away from Phil's hand and slapped at it. 

"Don't touch me!"

Phil immediately backed off and put his hands up in front of him in apology. "Hey, hey I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Donnie put his head down. "Just don't touch me." 

"Okay. I won't. How about you follow me up to your room. It is really late. You're probably exhausted."

The young boy shrugged his shoulders and then looked up at Sharon Carter. She gave him an encouraging smile. 

"Donnie, you'll be okay here. The Coulsons are good people. They just want to help, okay. I'll call tomorrow and I'll keep trying to get a message to your aunt." 

Donnie nodded and then stepped toward Phil. Phil turned and led the boy upstairs to his room. Sharon handed Melinda some papers. 

"His information that you need. It's the weekend so we can figure out what to do about school later."

Melinda took the papers. "What happened. He has recent injuries."

"It's there in the paperwork. To make a long story short, his mother was beaten badly by her live in boyfriend. Donnie tried to stop it and the boyfriend gave him a broken wrist and some scrapes and bruises. He had the forthright to call the police before he tried to stop him. Otherwise he might be in worse shape. His mother is in intensive care." 

Melinda closed her eyes and grimaced. "Did they get him?"

"Yeah the police took him into custody. I talked to Detective Hunter and Officer Rodrigues. He's most likely being booked now." 

"Good. What about visiting his mother. He'll want to." 

"I'll call over there tomorrow and see how she is doing. Maybe I can stop by and take him?" 

"Phil will take him if it's okay. I'll remind him to call you." 

"Poor boy won't be going back with her anytime soon. The police found drugs in the house. Officer Rodrigues said the woman had multiple drug tracks on her arms. She has a sister, that's who we are trying to get a hold of. "

Melinda sighed. "Okay. It's almost three. You should get home. He'll be fine tonight. Phil will call you tomorrow."

"Thank you. I had no one else to call. If you would have said no he would have had to go to a juvenile lock down facility. We really need more people willing to get involved in foster care. More good people. Good night. Call if you need anything." She turned and went out the door. 

Melinda locked the door, and turned off the lights downstairs, heading upstairs she glanced at the papers in her hands wondering just what her husband had gotten her into. 

 

Melinda waited for Phil sitting up in bed reading over the papers Sharon Carter had left with them. Phil came into their room twenty minutes later. 

"I waited till he fell asleep."

"I figured." She waited till he climbed into bed next to her. 

"You need to read these." She thrust the papers in his hands. "I need to get some sleep. I have a class at nine." She turned over and closed her eyes trying to fall to sleep. 

"You're angry." 

She ignored him. 

"Hey come on. I thought you said you'd give this a try? We'd give this a try?" 

Melinda sighed. She rolled back over and sat up. 

"Look Mel, he seems angry but he's actually scared."

"That makes two of us." 

Phil's eyes widened. "Hey come on. You'll do fine. I'm scared too. But right now, that boy down the hall needs us."

Melinda nodded. "I'll try Phil. His mother was beat up by her boyfriend. He stepped in between them. That's how he got hurt."

"Damn. They get him?" 

"Yeah. Hunter. Sharon Carter said Detective Hunter was working the case."

"Good. Maybe you should call him. See what is his take on it." 

"Yeah I just might do that. Oh that reminds me. Clint is smitten."

"Smitten? Do people even use that word anymore?" 

Melinda smacked him on his arm. "Guess with who?" 

"I don't know Mel. With who?" 

"My new instructor." 

"So he's finally over Laura? That's good right?" 

Melinda nodded. "They were flirting with each other. It was actually adorable. I told him to stop by. Or at least call."

"Yeah. It's been a while."

"Or you could call him too you know. He was your first." 

Phil looked at her. "Huh?" 

"Stray. Your first one Phil. Since then you've picked up quite a few. Skye's just your latest in a long line." 

Phil laughed. "That's one of the reasons you love me." 

Melinda gave him a dirty look. "Hmmmmm. I really need to sleep though. You're going to have to handle Donnie tomorrow. I won't be home till after 4 again. Skye has a lesson."

"Roger that." 

 

Melinda woke up at 7:00. She took a quick shower and got dressed. She made a quick breakfast of toast and tea, went upstairs to wake Phil and check in on their houseguest. The boy was sleeping, snoring quietly as she looked in on him. She closed the door and then went to wake Phil. After that she grabbed her bag and headed to her gym. First class was one of exuberant 8 and 9 year olds, and Melinda already had a slight headache from lack of sleep. She opened the gym and then downed a couple pain pills before warming up by doing Tai Chi. Soon enough the gym was overtaken by the sound of laughing children ready for their lesson. 

 

Skye turned and hit her arm into something hard. She winced and then opened her eyes. She stared at the bar she had hit forgetting where she was. Then it came to her. Jemma's house. She was in Jemma's bunk bed on the top bunk and her arm had hit the safety bar. She yawned and turned onto her stomach reaching for her phone. The light streaming into the room from the window told Skye it was definitely morning. Glancing at her phone she saw it was almost 10:30am. She tucked her phone back under her pillow and curled back on the bed cuddling under the warm blankets. She was halfway asleep again when her eyes shot open and she sat up in bed. 10:30? Oh crap. She moved to jump over the railing bar down to the floor and instead got her feet tangled in the blankets and smashed her leg into the railing instead. She cursed and rubbed her leg. She pulled the covers down and more carefully moved off the bed, dropping to the floor with a thud. Her thud woke Jemma in the bottom bunk and she sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Oh hey Skye. What time is it?" 

"It's 10:30." Skye grabbed her backpack and started rummaging through it for her clothes. She threw off her pajamas and started putting her clothes on quickly. "I'm gonna be late." 

"Late? For what?" 

"I have to get to the bus stop over a mile away that comes at eleven so I can get to Miss May's place by noon."

"Oh I thought you would be staying here for awhile Skye." 

"We.....stayed up...... I did want to.... I mean look it's really late. Jeez, I haven't slept that late for a long time."

"Well we didn't get to bed until almost four. Honestly wait Skye, you need breakfast. You can't just run off." 

Skye was pulling the door open. "Really Jem, I have to go. I think I left my phone charger in the kitchen." 

She bounded down the steps with Jemma, still in her pajamas, behind her. Skye stopped short as she entered the kitchen. A woman was sitting at the counter drinking coffee with Jemma's aunt. 

"Ooof." Jemma plowed into Skye as she had suddenly stopped. Izzy and Vic looked over at the two girls. 

"Hey Skye. Jemma. Good morning." Vic smiled at the girls. "We thought you were going to sleep the whole day away."

"Good morning Aunt Vic. Good morning Izzy." Jemma smiled at both. "Izzy, this is my friend, Skye." 

Skye waved and then started looking for her charger. "Hey. Anyone see my phone charger? I think I left it in here when we were making cookies."

"You mean burning cookies. Jemmy what possessed you two to get up at 1am to make cookies? Sit Skye. Izzy was about to make her famous blueberry pancakes. With bacon." 

"Oooooooooo bacon." Jemma's eyes lit up. "And cause we were hungry for cookies. You said we could do anything we wanted at our sleepover. Well anything except drink or do drugs. Or have boys over. Or...."

"Sorry I've got to go. Ah there it is." Skye grabbed the charger from the plug by the toaster and stuffed it in her backpack. "Um thanks for having me Ms. Hand. Nice to meet you um.......Ms. ......"

"Izzy. Call me Izzy. And what in the world is your hurry on a Saturday morning."

"I have to catch the bus. Nearest stop is over a mile away. See you Monday Jemma. Thanks again." Skye went to walk out the kitchen door. 

Vic stepped in front of her. "Whoa. Hang on. You don't have to take the bus home. I'll be glad to drive you Skye."

"Oh I'm not going home. I need to get to Melinda's Place. By 12:00."

"Melinda's Place? Martial Arts? You have a lesson?" The question came from Izzy. 

Jemma spoke up. "Skye cleans for her. Then Mr. C's wife gives her a lesson." 

Izzy smiled. She glanced at Vic. Then she spoke up. "I can take you. You don't need to rush to a bus stop. Besides, you do not want to miss my world famous blueberry pancakes."

"That's okay. I don't want to be any trouble. Thanks anyway." Skye tried to leave again but Vic stopped her gently holding her arm. 

"It's no trouble Skye. Really. Now why don't you just sit with Jemma while Izzy and I make breakfast." 

Skye sighed. She looked at Jemma who just shrugged her shoulders and moved to the counter.

"Skye it's fine. Now do you want some coffee? You can pick a flavor and put it in the Keurig. Best invention ever." 

Skye grinned. "The Keurig or coffee?" 

"Yes." Jemma grinned at her. Vic and Izzy laughed. 

"Yes I just hope that Jemma's parents do not blame me for her addiction to coffee. They will be scandalized to learn Jemmy prefers coffee over tea." 

"I still like tea. It's just coffee is so much more........more." 

 

Forty - five minutes later Skye put the last bite of pancake in her mouth and sighed in happiness. Jemma looked over and smiled. 

"See. Now aren't you glad you stayed. Izzy's pancakes are great." 

"Best pancakes ever." Skye mumbled around the bite of food. 

Izzy smiled at her. "Thank you. Maybe next time you stay over, I can make my famous strawberry waffles."

Skye's eyes got big. "Really? Strawberry waffles?" 

"Oh yes Skye they are the best. Oh Izzy I almost forgot about those." 

Izzy laughed. "I sometimes almost forget how much you like to eat Jemma. It seems your friend does too."

"Yeah you kinda learn how to appreciate good food when you don't get it much. Some of the fosters I stayed at you were lucky to get three meals a day. Sometimes school was the only place I ate anything. Most places had cereal though, but not many made breakfast. You know it was the ......................" Skye stopped talking. She never said stuff like that to people. Never opened up. What was happening to her? She looked down, suddenly fascinated with the floor tiles. 

Izzy and Vic shared a pained glance as Jemma looked at her friend sadly. 

"I'm sorry Skye. Sometimes it's hard to remember that not everyone has what I have." 

"It's cool Jemma. It is what it is. I'm good. Hey, the Brodys are decent enough anyway. " Skye got up and took her plate to the sink. She started rinsing the dishes. "Least I can do is the dishes." 

Vic stepped toward her. "If you had the time. But you need to leave shortly with Izzy. So it's fine." She ushered the girl away. 

"Yeah traffic is going to be heavy now." Izzy moved to Vic and they embraced and Izzy gave her a soft kiss. "See you tonight babe." 

Izzy walked by Jemma who was clearing the table. "See you later too Jemmy. Keep your aunt out of trouble till I get back. Oh and I'll be bringing some steaks to grill. Is Leo coming by? I have plenty."

"No he's busy. Doing some project he said."

"That's a shame. He hasn't been round much these days. I miss our Dr. Who conversations. See you both later. Come on Skye."

"Thanks again Ms. Hand. And I'll see you Monday Jem." Skye followed Izzy out the door. 

Skye grinned as she saw Izzy's car. It was an old mustang convertible. Royal blue. "Sweet ride."

Izzy laughed at Skye's reaction. "My dad and I worked on it together. I've had it for over 20 years now. I have a mechanic friend who helps keep it going". 

They both got in and music blasted when Izzy turned the key. An Elton John song came on and Skye grinned again. "Miss May likes that music." 

Izzy nodded as she backed out of the driveway. "Tell her to tell you about the concert she made us all go to one day." 

Skye grinned. Maybe she would do that. Soon they cruising along the highway heading toward to center of town. Skye grinned the whole way. Pulling into the parking lot, Skye saw a woman standing by the back door. She jumped out of the car after Izzy came to a stop. 

"Hey thanks a lot. I really appreciate the ride." 

"Not a problem Skye. Anytime. You've been a good friend to Jemma. She doesn't have too many you know. She's only been here for about two years, and being well..... shy, and English and so damn smart.......you know. Vic worries." 

Skye smiled. "Well she's been a good friend to me. I never really had..........", Skye's smile faltered, "well moving a lot ......you know....it's hard to .....anyway thanks again for the ride. In this amazing car."

"Like I said, Anytime. Tell Melinda hello from me." 

At that Izzy backed her car around and then pulled out of the lot waving to Skye. Skye started walking around to the front entrance when she heard someone talking. She looked up and saw the woman walking toward her. 

"This door not open." Skye noticed she had an accent similar to Natasha's. 

"No Miss May keeps it locked. You have to use the front entrance over this way."

"Ah thank you." The woman followed Skye on the pavement. "I come to see classes. My cousin says I might be good for learning this....um....hitting people thing."

Skye laughed. "Martial Arts?" 

"Yes that is English name. Sorry my talk not as good as my brother. Or cousin."

"Natasha's your cousin, right? " Skye held the door open for the woman to go through. 

"Yes. You know Natasha?"

"Yeah. I'm Skye. I clean for Miss May. And take lessons."

"Wanda. My name's Wanda Maximoff." 

"Well come on Wanda Maximoff, let's find Natasha."

As they walked into the gym Skye spotted Natasha and Miss May on the mats. They were sparring. She walked closer and then knelt down to watch. Wanda slowed next to her and then crouched down and sat next to her on the floor. Skye was entranced. It was like watching a choreographed dance. Both Miss May and Natasha moving gracefully while dodging kicks and hits. It was obvious to anyone they were exceptionally good. After a few minutes, both stopped and then Natasha said something Skye could not hear but had Miss May laughing out loud. She wasn't sure she had ever heard that before. A full blown laugh. Then Skye thought about what Jemma's aunt had said about Mr. C and Miss May losing their child. How sad was that. Skye shook her head in anger. Fate just sucked. I mean here were two of the best people she had even met and they lost their son in an accident. Life was so cruel. Skye looked over at Wanda as the woman touched her arm. 

"Huh?" 

"Sorry. I ask you question and you were million miles away." 

"Oh sorry. What did you ask."

"How long you know Miss Melinda?"

"Oh not long. But she's amazing."

"Yes. That is same thing Natasha say. It is good she give Nat job. Nat was getting umm... what that word.......um angry at not finding job. No not angry um....."

"Frustrated?" 

"Yes that right word. Frustrated. People no like her being different."

Skye nodded. "Yeah I get that. Being different sucks sometimes." 

"Sucks?" 

Skye laughed. "Yeah. Like really bad. You feel really bad. Frustrated." 

"Ah I see." 

"You see what Wanda?" 

Both Skye and Wanda jumped slightly not hearing Natasha walking up to them. 

"Sucks. Means frustrated. Young Skye here says so."

Natasha laughed. "Oh she did, did she." 

Skye grinned and got up. "Well it sort of does. I mean if something sucks it's frustrating, right?" 

Natasha smiled as Skye walked away. 

"So Wanda you decided to come and see training. Good. After learning about that incident that happened to you I think you should learn self defense. The 12:00 class is just arriving. You can watch from here." Natasha led her cousin to the spectator seats. 

 

Skye poked her head into Melinda's office. "Hi. Anything special to do or the usual." 

"Hello Skye. No just the usual."

"Oh yeah Izzy said to say hi. She dropped me off."

That peaked Melinda's interest. "Isabelle Hartley?" 

"Um I don't know. Maybe. Drives a sweet blue mustang?" 

"Yes that's her. How do you know Izzy?" 

"Oh I stayed at my friend's last night. Jemma's. Her aunt Vic?" 

"Victoria Hand. I know Vic. I did hear she was taking care of her niece. So she's your age?"

"Yeah. She's one of my friends. Mr. C knows her. I better get to work."

Melinda smiled and nodded her head. She watched as Skye left and then stood up and walked out of the office. She had a paper in her hand she had just printed. It was the police file that Hunter had sent her. All about last night's late arrest of one Dominic Kebo. Melinda sat down in one of the observation chairs in the second row. She started reading. Kebo had a long arrest history having been arrested eleven times with charges sticking only on two. He'd served two years on a weapons charge recently, getting out of jail only 5 months ago. It seems that most of the time witnesses never showed for the hearings or evidence disappeared. She paused when she got to one case. His lawyer's name was familiar. Brody. Jason Brody. Melinda's head shot up as she remembered. She glanced to the equipment room and saw Skye through the window cleaning. The Brody's were Skye's foster family. Why would a respected lawyer like Jason Brody be representing a punk like Kebo? Melinda kept reading getting angrier by the second. This Kebo character was a petty violent criminal. Why would any woman let someone like that into their home especially around her kids. Melinda thought about poor Donnie trying to fight this guy to protect his mother. He's lucky the jerk didn't hurt him worse. 

"Must be good?" 

"Huh?" Melinda looked up to see a woman staring at her. 

"What you read. Your full attention on it. Must be good?"

"Oh yeah. It's um........for......um.....work." Melinda turned the paper on her lap. She really had no reason to be looking at it and if you wanted to get technical it was probably illegal for her to do so, but Hunter didn't see the harm and neither did she. It was good to still have friends with the police."

"I Wanda Maixmoff. I just want to thank you for giving my cousin a job. She was trying to find job for long time. It sucks." 

Melinda raised her eyebrows at the last comment. "Well Natasha is more than qualified. I consider myself lucky that she agreed to work here." Melinda paused. "Um what sucks?" 

"Not getting job. People not hire her. She frustrated. Sucks. The girl said that's what sucks means." The woman pointed to Skye as she walked by with the garbage bags.

Melinda laughed. "Yeah right. But I don't think the two words are completely interchangeable."

Wanda looked at Melinda confused. "Inter........?" 

"Interchangeable. Um........Sucks is a slang word. Means to not like something. Like getting hurt sucks. Frustrated is more like an emotion."

"Oh. But still mean same thing?" 

"Yeah I guess in a way. When something is frustrating it sucks." Melinda grinned. Who would have thought she'd have a conversation about the word sucks. "So Wanda, how long have you been in this country. I mean if you don't mind me asking. I thought you and your brother were here longer than Natasha."

"Oh no. Not me. Just Pietro. He came many years ago. I only came a month before Natasha. I just get job a few months ago. I clean offices. Like the girl." 

Melinda glanced at Skye smiling. "So were you thinking of taking a class here? Or just visiting Natasha?" 

"Oh Nat thinks I need to learn how to......how to...... do that self.....self........."

"Defense?" 

"Yes. Defend the self. She worries."

"Does she have a reason to worry?" 

The woman grew quiet. "She worries. I work late night. I was taking bus home and on way to bus stop, a man um.........he .........threaten me. Another man came by and scare him off. But now Nat wants me learn to protect self." 

"Did you report this to the police?" 

"Police? Oh no. No." 

"She didn't report it because she doesn't trust police. Where she comes from they are corrupt. They are sometimes no better than the criminals. I try to tell her not here. Here police are good. That's why I want to be law enforcement. Here you do good." Natasha had appeared next to them having dismissed her class. The kids were being picked up by parents and leaving. 

Natasha continued. "It happened few weeks ago. But I just learned of it on Thursday when I overheard Wanda talking to Pietro. Coming here was a compromise." Natasha gave her cousin a pointed look. 

"Well we have self defense courses for adults. I have two classes during the day. You said you work nights, right?" They both nodded. "So Tuesday at 10am? Or Thursday at 2pm?"

Natasha thought for a moment and then spoke up. "Thursday. That way since I start at three to work we come together. Pietro can drop us both. I stay and Wanda take bus to work at five."

"Okay I'll put you down. You get 25% off employee discount."

"Oh no Miss Melinda we pay full price."

"Natasha you get a discount for family. Now that's that. I need to get ready for my class."

Melinda walked away as the two women started chattering in Russian. She looked up as she saw Lincoln and Trip enter. Lincoln called out a greeting to Skye who smiled and waved. Melinda watched as the young girl ran over to the boys talking excitedly about the blue mustang she had been in. She'd have to remember to tell Izzy about the impression her car made on the girl. Her light heartedness vanished quickly as she placed the papers in her office once again thinking about Donnie and Mr. Kebo. 

 

Skye was waiting in Melinda's office as Melinda was talking on the phone pacing back and forth. She was sitting in the chair twirling back and forth waiting for Melinda to take her home. Skye noticed one of the desk drawers was half opened. Her curiosity getting the best of her she peered in the drawer. There were pictures in it and on top was a picture of Melinda and Mr. C with a young boy. Skye's eyes opened wide realizing this was their son. She picked up the picture and held it up looking at it. Mr. C had his trademark goofy grin on his face with his arm wrapped around his wife. Melinda was smiling bigger than Skye had ever seen and in between them was a little boy around 6 or 7 who was laughing. He looked so much like Melinda. Skye stared at the picture and felt tears threaten. They were so happy.

"Who told you that you could look at that?" 

Skye jumped and looked up into Melinda May's angry face. 

"Oh I.......I...I'm sorry. The drawer was open and I........I just........."

Melinda grabbed the picture out of Skye's hand. She threw it in the drawer and slammed it shut. 

"Do you always go through my personal things?" 

Skye was shocked at the coldness in her voice. "No, I didn't....I never did........I'm sorry. The drawer was open."

"So you thought that was an invitation to go through it?" Melinda knew she sounded mean, but she didn't care at the moment. 

"Miss May I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"That's right you won't. Get out of my office. You apparently cannot be trusted." 

Skye felt the tears well up in her eyes. "No I can, please ...I'm sorry." 

Melinda ushered the girl out and slammed the door shut. Skye felt her hands start shaking. Melinda stomped to the back and checked the doors and then walked back to the front checking the alarms. She held the front door open. "Let's go." 

Skye berated herself for being so weak but she couldn't hold back the tears. She let out a sob as tears cascaded down her cheeks. This was a side to Melinda she had not seen and she could feel her heart breaking. Why were people so........

"Skye? Oh shit. Hey Skye." Melinda walked to the girl and was overcome with guilt. This wasn't who she was. She did not cause people pain. She protected them. "Hey." Melinda was not good at this. At emotions. At calming people down. But she owed her this since she had made her upset. So Melinda swallowed hard and reached out to touch her arm and to apologize. But Skye's reaction was not what she expected. Skye twisted out of her grasp and fell to the floor, melting into a small ball hugging herself in protection. 

Melinda watched in horror. Skye thought she was going to hit her. Feeling like a monster she knelt down and talked calmly to the girl. 

"Skye. It's okay. Hey. Come on. I'm not going to hurt you. I would never.....ever......, Melinda's voice hitched as she struggled with her words, "I would never hit you Skye. I would never hurt you. I'm so sorry." Melinda could see the girl's breathing was erratic and she was shaking. Tears came to Melinda's eyes. The girl was having a panic attack. And it was all her fault. 

Melinda sat down next to Skye. She had no idea how to talk Skye down from this, but figured she could do what Phil did for her. She just stayed next to her and kept talking. Reassuring her. Kept her voice even and calm. Did not try to touch her. 

It took about fifteen minutes till Melinda saw Skye coming back to herself. Slowly she had stopped shaking and Melinda could see her heart rate even out. Her fists were closed but not clenched tightly and her tears had stopped. Melinda watched as the girl slowly uncurled her body and sat upright. She had closed her eyes as the tears had slowed, but now had opened them but was staring at the floor. She had her knees bent with her arms wrapped around them. Every once in a while her body would shudder. Melinda had stopped talking a few minutes ago and had just stayed sitting on the floor next to Skye. She had sent a few text messages to Phil, mostly about being late. The last one however, she had a meltdown of words, telling Phil what an awful person she was and that she was not fit to be a mother, or to teach kids anything. She had even typed that Donnie would be better off anywhere than with her. That's when Phil had tried to call over and over but she had the ringer on silence to not freak out Skye and she refused to answer. Which meant that Phil was probably thinking about coming there or was already on his way. 

Skye looked up at Melinda who was watching her carefully. "I'm sorry." It was barely a whisper. 

Melinda's heart broke again as she realized just how much she had traumatized the young girl. "No Skye. I'm sorry. I don't even know why I got so angry. It was unacceptable. You don't have to apologize. I do. Please, please forgive me." 

At that Skye's eyes filled with tears. "No I shouldn't have looked at that picture. It was not my place. I just.......I just saw it and ........I'm so sorry." 

"Hey. Skye. Look at me." The girl had dropped her head again. She looked back up at Melinda as more tears fell. 

"I didn't know about your son Melinda. Jemma's aunt....she......they told me what happened. When I saw the pictures I just.....I'm so sorry."

"That picture was the last one we took of Jamie. Well, Bobbi, Phil's sister, took it. I just don't..........I'm sorry Skye. I don't ever talk about him. But I am so sorry. I should never have gotten that angry. Or scared you. Skye I would never hit you. You know that right?" 

Skye had once again hung her head to look at her shoes. Melinda took a chance and shuffled closer to the girl. She lifted Skye's chin up with her hand and looked her in the eyes. 

"I will never hurt you Skye."

Skye nodded. "It was just a panic attack." Confirming Melinda's theory. "I used to get them a lot but not so much lately."

Melinda sighed. "I get them too." 

At that revelation Skye's eyes widened and she bite her bottom lip. "You do?" 

"Uhhuh. Mine are usually at night. After a nightmare." 

Skye nodded. "Yeah I have nightmares too. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is real and what isn't real."

Melinda hurt so much for this young girl. She was only 14 and had experienced so much pain in her young life. And she had contributed to that pain. That guilt was not going to go away easily. 

"Skye? I'm so sorry."

Skye nodded. "It's okay. You were upset. You had a right to be....."

"No Skye I did not. I had no right to take out frustration or anger on you. I had no right to yell or make you feel bad. I should have talked to you instead. I am so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Skye nodded. "Of course. Please forgive me for snooping." 

Melinda smiled. "Yes. Of course." Melinda watched as the girl seemed okay now. But Melinda noticed her hands were shaking a little yet. So Melinda fought off her inhibitions and need for her space, and moved even closer to the girl and wrapped her arms around her. Surprisingly, Skye sank into the embrace and lowered her head onto Melinda's shoulder, snaking her arms around Melinda as well. Melinda smiled as the young girl seemed content to hold on to her. 

Moments later Phil came running into the gym. He stopped short as he took in the scene before him. Melinda and Skye were holding onto each other like lifelines. He smiled. Donnie spoke up behind Phil.

"What's going on?" 

Skye pulled away from Melinda and stood up sheepishly grinning. Melinda stood up as well and looked at her husband, but before she could say anything Donnie spoke again.

"Skye?" 

She turned her head to look at him. "Donnie. What are you doing here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I like Elton John. You will notice him in all my stories. More importantly I hold a headcanon that Melinda May likes Elton John is any universe. "Rocket Man" is her fav song. Coming up - more Skye with Fitz, Thomas, Lincoln, and everyone. More Melinda and Skye - their connection just got stronger. I hope to have the next chapter up by mid May. Unless the AOS Finale kills me.


	10. Starting Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of bonding. Moving forward. All foundations have cracks.

Melinda looked from Skye to Donnie and back to each again. Donnie stood still looking at them both. Skye wiped her eyes on her sleeve and then smiled at the boy. Phil's face was one of curiosity. 

After a few seconds, Donnie ran straight at Skye and engulfed her in a bear hug. Skye smiled hugging him back. 

"Hey buddy. Long time huh?" 

Donnie pulled away and stared at her again. "I can't believe you're here. What are you doing here anyway? How do you know the Coulsons?" 

"Oh I take lessons here. Martial Arts. You know like we used to pretend." Skye kicked her foot and did a punch for emphasis. "Yeehah. Bam." 

"You? Physical exertion? Geez Skye is the world ending?" 

"Smartass."

"Goober." 

Both broke into silly laughter. Skye stepped forward and encircled him in another hug. "I never thought I'd ever see you again." As she pulled away she noticed his wrist cast and bruise on his face. She reached up to touch the bandage. 

"Aw shit Donnie. What the hell happened." 

"Bastard was hurting my mom." 

"You're back with your mom?" 

Donnie hung his head. "I was. She starting using again a couple months ago." 

"Shit. I'm sorry. New foster home huh?"

He nodded. He jerked his thumb over to Phil and Melinda who were standing together watching the interchange curiously. 

Skye smiled. "Seriously? You're new foster parents are Mr. C and Miss May?" 

"Yeah. So?" 

"They are the best Donnie. You'll like them. Really. You need to stop scowling like right now. Jeez, you have cool fosters." 

"Well thanks for the endorsement Skye." Phil gave her a warm smile. "How do you two know each other?" 

 

"Foster home. Couple years ago." 

Melinda did not miss the way they looked at each other when Skye responded. 

"How long were you in the home together?" 

Skye looked down and then back at Donnie. "I dunno. What, say maybe 7 months. One of my longer ones." 

Donnie nodded. "Yeah. About that. We were a team." He smiled at Skye. "She never let the older kids hurt me. Always gave me some of her food when the Hamilton's were jerks. Even that time Mr. Hamilton took her and ........."

"Shut up Donnie." Skye admonished him and Melinda saw her face contorted into a myriad of emotions before becoming stoic. 

Donnie shot her a hurt look and then understanding passed over his features. "Yeah we were in a foster home at the same time. That's all." 

Phil shot Melinda a worried glance. Donnie knowing Skye was unexpected to say the least, and the conversation they just heard answered many questions but left so many more in the wake. They did manage to learn more about Donnie since he had been unwilling to talk to Phil all day except to respond to necessary questions. 

Phil spoke up then. "So Mel, you want me to take Skye home and stop for some take out?"

"Um well actually, um.....Skye?" Melinda turned to talk to the girl. "Would you like to visit more with Donnie? We could grab some take out and you could spend a few hours at our place? If you want? And if it's okay with the Brody's?"

Skye looked at Donnie's pleading face and back to Melinda. "I'm already late so let me check in and see what Anne says." 

Melinda smiled and nodded. 

Skye walked away a few feet and dialed her phone. After a very brief conversation she walked back to Donnie. 

"She said it was okay. I told her I'd be back by nine. That okay?"

"That's fine Skye. Why don't you and Donnie ride back to our place in my car and Phil can get the food. Chinese or Pizza?" 

"It doesn't matter Miss May. Whatever you want."

"How bout you Donnie? Phil looked at the younger boy.

"Chinese is fine."

"I'll call it in then and swing over to the restaurant. Should be home in about 45 minutes." Phil headed out the door talking on his phone.

Melinda picked up her bag and Skye did the same. Then the three walked out to Melinda's car, with Melinda locking up behind her. 

 

Two hours later, after eating, Skye and Donnie were in the room the Coulsons had designated as his for his stay there. Skye was sitting on his desk chair with her feet propped on his bed, while he sat on the floor leaning against the bed. 

"So you just came here last night. I didn't know that the Coulsons fostered."

"Miss Carter said they just started. She kept telling me how thankful she was that there was a place for me to go."

"Yeah. Oh hey Miss Carter is my SS contact too. She placed me here, well in this town with the Brody's."

He frowned at her. "Yeah. So they okay?" 

"So far it's been okay. I get plenty to eat, nice house to live in and a lot of freedom like to be here and all."

"Do they care Skye? You finally found one of them?"

"No not really. I mean it took awhile to find their angle, you know." 

Yeah he knew. He nodded. 

"Mrs. Brody drinks. But not in an ugly way. Least I haven't seen it. She basically ignores me. She likes when I help out though, you know chores and stuff. Nothing too demanding. Mr. Brody seems nice, you know the type. Acts like he cares. Probably doesn't actually. His son told me I was to make him look good......um........like a good image or something." 

 

"Son? How many kids?" 

"Just two. Ryan is my age and he's cool. We're friends. JJ is a couple years older. He's a jerk. I just stay away from him. He and his friends like to think they run the school."

"So image huh?"

"Yeah to look like a caring family. Giving back to the helpless and hopeless. Get more votes or something." 

They sat quiet for a while. 

"Donnie? What happened? You were with your mom?" 

Donnie pulled his legs up and hugged his arms around them. After a few seconds he looked at Skye. "Last May. Right after I turned 12. They let me go with her. She was clean. Gone through a program. Did all the right things. Had a job. An apartment. Small, but you know, nice. It was ours." He paused to gather his thoughts. "They had me go through some tests and stuff. You know, see a psychiatrist, and all the others. Some intelligent test thing. One of the counselors pushed it before I could go back with mom. So they pushed me up a grade to eighth, said I was smart and mom was so proud. Said I'd be the first in the family to go to college. It was great. I studied hard, even joined a youth baseball team this past summer. Can you imagine? But it was fun. Mom worked hard, sometimes 60 hours a week. But we'd do stuff together on weekends. Watch TV. Go to a cheap movie. Go to the park."

"Just being together was what counts. And you always were a smart little nerd." She nudged him with her toe. 

He made a face at her. "After all her promises, she finally came through. But I guess it wasn't enough. I was not enough. Back in August she met Dominic. Called him her knight in shining armor. He was nice to her. Even me at first. I noticed it a couple weeks later after I found her stash. She started using again. Turns out good old Dominic was a dealer."

"That sucks."

"I begged her to make him leave. To stop. She wouldn't. So I stayed away more and more. Friends. Library. Sometimes outside. Like we used to do when it wasn't safe. The apartment roof. Not as dangerous as when we did it. No gangs anyway, just cold sometimes." 

"I'm sorry." 

"Should have just ran away. Like you did."

"They catch you Donnie. Take you back. You know that. Being out there as a kid you get used. Someone always has an angle. It's not safe, you know that."

"Nothing is safe Skye. My own house isn't. Group homes are worse. Fosters aren't safe either. You know that." 

"This one is Donnie. These are good people. Caring people. You lucked out. Mr. C is my history teacher. He is really nice. He talked his wife into giving me self defense lessons. And she did. For free. Well basically. I mean I clean for her a little, but believe me, she is very generous with her time. Six plus hours of lessons and I clean for like 3 hours tops. I know what she charges and it isn't even close. These are good people Donnie. They will treat you right. Don't be a douche to them, okay?" 

He nodded. "I guess. Guy talks a lot. He even showed me his comic collection." 

Skye laughed. "He's a nerd Donnie. Just like you. So is it a good one? The comics?" 

"Yeah. Outstanding." 

"So be nice. Ask to see them. You know you are dying to. You're inner geek is so needy." 

Donnie reached onto the bed and grabbed a pillow to throw at Skye. She blocked it easily, getting up quickly and grabbing a pillow and went to whack him, but stopped in mid air as she saw his cast. Which gave Donnie the advantage as he brought the third pillow across the side of Skye's head and laughed. 

"Hey!" Skye looked indignant. "No fair." I can't whack you, you're injured." 

Donnie grinned wickedly and went to whack her again. She dodged the pillow and jumped on the bed. "Nananana. You missed." 

Donnie laughed, jumping on the bed to get to her so Skye jumped off the other side with a very loud thump. She ran over to the window, holding her pillow in front as a shield with her right hand and took a karate stance. Donnie approached slowly and just as he was about to attack the door swung open and Melinda stood there looking at them both. 

Skye turned a shade of red, while Donnie dropped his pillow and stared back at Melinda in fear. 

"Skye you're too tense and your feet are too close together. Carry on." 

Melinda left the room and closed it behind her and both Skye and Donnie could hear her laughing as she walked down the hallway. 

Skye grinned. "Told you they were cool." Donnie smiled and the tension seemed to leave his body as his face lit up. 

 

Melinda walked back to her bedroom. She closed the door, still laughing as Phil looked over to her. "Everything alright?" 

"Yeah fine. They were just playing."

"Playing?"

"Yeah. Isn't it great?" 

Phil noticed his wife's relaxed demeanor and decided to push. "So you want to tell me what those text messages were all about Mel." 

Melinda let out a deep breath. "Skye had a panic attack."

Phil's face washed over in concern. "How bad?" 

"Bad." She paused and then her face clouded over. "It was my fault."

"How so?" 

Melinda sat down on the edge of the bed. Phil joined her. She explained everything that happened. 

Phil took her hand in his and squeezed. "Seems to me everything's okay now. She was doing some serious hugging of you there Melinda. And you were hugging her too." 

Melinda sighed. "But I caused her pain Phil. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Why I didn't want to do this fostering. Why I never get close to my students. Why this all was a bad idea. Spending too much time with her. Hell I take Skye home three times a week and teach her for a good six hours. Plus today she watched my advanced teen class for an hour and half and she is there cleaning for another couple hours. It's too hard to not talk to her. To not get closer."

"Good." 

"Good Phil? Cause I made her have a panic attack."

"You might have been the catalyst for her attack today, but you know damn well it had another cause initially. Whatever that was, was the bigger culprit. Not that you didn't do anything wrong. But your lashing out was caused by your own pain Melinda. And you apologized. The way you tell it, several times. And Skye seems okay now. Melinda she was accepting your comfort. Your apology. Hugging you. And you were able to give comfort to her. To realize and to help her. So......maybe the end result not so bad, huh?" 

"Still should have never happened. I don't hurt kids Phil. Not even with words. I should have seen it sooner too. Her face just ...........oh Phil, her face showed fear and pain. And she shrank away from me. Someone hurt her badly. You heard what Donnie started saying. That foster home. Maybe I should ask her what happened?" 

"And you would lose all trust she has in you right now. She would shut down and most likely get angry. She isn't ready to talk or admit anything to anyone yet. She shut Donnie down pretty quick."

"I still don't like it."

"There'd be something wrong with you if you did." 

"Did you hear what they said about food too? Who denies food to children?" 

"There are bad foster homes Mel. I think Donnie is so quiet and uncooperative because he is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting to get hurt or something."

"Skye stuck up for you."

"Us Mel. She stuck up for us." 

Melinda smiled and then looked at her watch. "It's after 8:30. You should take Skye home. She told them she'd be back by nine. 

"You should take her home Mel."

She shook her head. "I'd rather not Phil. Not just yet. Not tonight. I don't know what to say on the drive. "

"You don't have to say anything. Just be you. Kids are pretty flexible Mel. And I've found they don't hold grudges. They forgive easily. If Skye said she forgives you, she has."

"Phil. Please." 

"Mel you either drive Skye home or stay here and hang with Donnie."

Melinda sighed as she got up. "Or you can take Donnie with when you drop off Skye?" 

"Or not." 

Melinda gave him a dirty look. "Fine I'll take her home. Maybe you can bond with Donnie while I'm gone." 

"Yeah I tried that. I don't think he's into comics. Or Star Wars. Or my robot models."

"Well you could watch TV together. Or ask him what he likes to do. You know we still have those old board games on top of the hall closet."

He smiled as she left the room. 

 

Skye glanced shyly at Miss May as she sat in the passenger seat. The radio was softly playing oldies and Skye tapped along to the beat of Bob Segar's Old Time Rock and Roll. She wanted to talk but she wasn't sure if Melinda wanted to. They had a pretty emotional time earlier. Skye really wasn't ready for another emotional conversation. Then she remembered what Izzy told her to ask. 

"So Izzy said I should ask you about the concert you made everyone go to. So whose concert was it?" 

Melinda glanced quickly at Skye then back to the road. Then she laughed. Which immediately set Skye at ease so much she smiled. 

"She did huh?" She paused a moment then continued. She turned the music volume down. Then she laughed again. "And for the record I didn't make anyone go, they all wanted to come." 

Now Skye's curiosity was peeked. "So what happened?"

"Long or short version." 

Skye grinned. "Definitely long." 

"Okay so it was all Phil's fault." 

Skye laughed at that as Melinda smirked. 

"I like Elton John's music. Well anything from the 70's and early 80's really, but Elton John just reminds me of fun times. It's my go to music for training and running and cleaning and just about anything else. Billy Joel too."

"Ah piano." Skye interjected. 

"Yeah. It's just, I don't know. Makes me happy. So anyway it was April 2001." 

"Oh my gosh, I wasn't even born yet." 

"Hush you." Melinda tried to shoot her a glare that came across as a fond smile instead. "So Elton John and Billy Joel were touring. The Face to Face tour. But they weren't coming close to here. Denver, Colorado was one of the closer venues. Phil and I had just set a wedding date for September and he wanted to give me a gift, so he decided to go buy tickets for the concert and make it a road trip."

"Like a pre Honeymoon road trip."

Melinda laughed. "Oh no, not even close. Word got out what he was doing and others wanted in. So he brought along his sister and her boyfriend, Hunter, my best friend Roz, Izzy, Clint and Mike Peterson. He rented a fifteen passenger van and we set out on a Thursday morning. We made it to Ohio before stopping for the night. Then we set out on Friday morning for the remainder of the trip. We planned to get there by late Friday night. The concert was at 6 on Saturday. Well, the first leg of the trip went okay, it wasn't till we left Ohio that things got, well crazy. First we got a flat tire. So that cost us about 4 hours trying to find a tire shop or garage to replace the tire, cause the spare wasn't going to cut the miles long trip. So once we got on the way again, we stopped in mid afternoon at a diner. A diner in a little town off the highway we found after getting lost."

"Why'd you get lost." 

Melinda shook her head. "The highway had come to a standstill. An accident I suppose. So Hunter got out a map and took us on these back roads around the highway." 

"GPS?" 

"Not on an old 1985 Dodge van. And not on any cell phones either. In fact not everyone had a cell phone."

"So maps huh." 

"Yeah. And with Bobbi's boyfriend, just newly here from England.......let's just say we should have all known better than to let him in charge of directions."

"How lost were you?"

"So lost that we stopped for directions at a little diner in the middle of nowhere in Missouri. A town called Humansville."

Skye snorted. "No way." 

"Yep. The diner was called Humansville Diner."

"Of course it was."

"Anyway to make a long story short...."

"Too late." 

Melinda smiled. "I was just going to say ......you're home. So I can wrap up the story now or finish it another time."

"Home? I don't think I've ever had one of those. This place is just where I stay, for now. You could finish while we sit here."

Melinda bit her bottom lip and her eyes clouded at Skye's off handed remark about home. Then she sighed and turned toward Skye. "Don't you think the Brody's would think that is weird just sitting out here in my car?" 

"Nah. No one's home. See no lights except the outside and the living room. And Ryan texted me and said his parents and JJ had some diner to go to and he was staying over at Leo's place. In fact you could come in and finish the story." 

"Skye that might not be a good idea. Not if they are not home." 

Skye shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. But you could tell it here."

Melinda relented. "Alright. So we are in a small town in Missouri. Lost. And starving. Well the boys were starving. So we park and get out and Izzy says she will get directions. We all agreed so long as it's not Hunter, so we walk in this little diner. And every single head turns to look at us. Granted we looked a bit weary. Dusty from the road. Clint had long hair back then pulled back in a pony tail. Bobbi, Roz. Izzy and I went straight to the restroom to clean up a bit. The boys went and found a table. Granted we looked a bit mish mashed. Roz and Phil in preppy clothes. Me and Izzy and Hunter with our leather jackets on. Clint and Mike with their tight t-shirts, unshaven. They were both working undercover, rookies on the police force."

Melinda paused and grabbed a bottle of water taking a swallow. She glanced at Skye who was giving her full attention to Melinda. She continued. 

 

"So the four of us come out of the restroom and we went to sit down but before Bobbi could get to the table a man steps in front of her and well says something crude. Bobbi doesn't blink, she just moves to go around him and tells him to piss off. Hunter heard what he said and stood up and immediately Phil grabbed him and pulled him back down. Phil knew Bobbi could handle herself and a fight was not going to go well for anyone. Bobbi shrugged off the idiot and sat down. No one thought anything of it and we ordered out food and ate quickly. Izzy had gotten directions back to the highway from the waitress. We paid and walked out to get in the van to leave. Except gathered outside was the idiot and his friends. There were five besides him. And a few more locals lingering behind us that Izzy pointed out as we stopped. And a crowd had gathered."

"Wait. Is this really true? Or are you pulling my leg? It sounds like a bad B movie."

Melinda smiled softly. "I wish it were not true. There is still a lot of bigotry in the world Skye. People simply not liking others because they are different. Or are another race. First words out of the idiot's mouth were. 'How come a nice normal pretty white girl like you is hanging with a this riff raff.' " 

Skye frowned. "That is so not cool." 

So they flung a few barbs our way. Me and Mike taking the brunt. Hunter's accent was mentioned. Clint's ponytail. The usual stupidity and bigotry. Phil and Roz tried their diplomatic best to defuse the situation. We weren't worried about getting hurt. Between us were 5 police officers and an FBI agent. Phil could defend himself as well. We all knew that we needed to just leave but they weren't going to let us. We knew a full on fight, especially with the boys involved would be trouble. Might cost them a few night's in jail or even worse. Bobbi and I stepped forward as Phil and Izzy and Roz pushed the boys back. I stepped up into the idiot's face and told him to back off. Told him exactly who Bobbi and I were and what we were capable of doing to them. He laughed and called me a name. He reached to my arm and grabbed it and attempted to push me. I took him down and another who stepped in to help in seconds. Bobbi did the same with 2 others. The remaining two backed off and that's when the police arrived."

"Oh my gosh what happened? Did they arrest you?" 

"No. Once they saw all our I.D.'s and heard that just two women had taken down the men after they touched one of us they just let us go. It was a stark reminder to me however, how alive racism and stupidity was still in this country."

"Just cause people are different. Hate is so stupid." 

"It is." 

"So after that?" 

"Well it was late till we got back on the highway and we were off schedule by about 6 hours. We decided to stop at a hotel around ten and head out early to make the concert. Originally we were trying to get to Denver to stay at a hotel that night. The plan was to get to Denver on Friday night, stay at the hotel, take in some sights, see the concert and stay at the same hotel and head back home Sunday morning." 

"So how was the concert?" 

"Never got there Skye. Phil, Hunter, Roz, Clint and Bobbi all got food poisoning."

Skye laughed. Loudly. She pushed hand against her mouth trying to stifle the sound but it didn't work. "I'm sorry,' she managed to get out between giggles." 

"Izzy, Mike and I spent the next 24 hours cleaning up after and taking care of the others." 

Skye became somber. "Wow that sucks. I really am sorry."

Melinda shrugged. "It was a long time ago. Izzy enjoys telling the story. I'm surprised she didn't tell you. She embellishes it more. The others pretty much like to pretend it didn't happen."

"So you never saw Elton John? 

"No I did. 2004. Radio City Music Hall. Phil got tickets. For everyone. Him and I, Izzy, Bobbi and Hunter, Clint, Mike and Roz. Roz brought her new boyfriend along and Izzy brought Vic. My mom and dad stayed with Jamie. It was the first time I'd left him in their ........" Melinda trailed off. She took a deep breathe. "I don't normally talk about my son." 

"I'm sorry." 

"No it's okay." Melinda swallowed hard and turned to Skye. "I .....I ......just.......I miss him so much." Her voice grew quieter. "You should probably go Skye. I need to get home." 

"Yeah okay. So Miss May is it okay if call Donnie? Maybe even hang out sometimes?"

"Of course."

"Thanks Miss May. For the ride. Oh and the Chinese food, it was good." Skye got out then stuck her head back in the door. "Oh and the story. And for earlier......um.......when I freaked out........and........"

"Skye that was my fault."

"Well you helped......you know.......helped and stuff." Skye smiled. "And for the lessons. I'm not dumb you know. I know how much they cost."

Melinda smiled. "You pay with your cleaning."

Skye smirked. "Yeah right. You pay your cleaning people a great wage Miss May." 

"Only when they're worth it." Melinda smiled. "And please call me Melinda."

Skye grinned. "Okay Miss Melinda." 

"Smartass." 

Skye waved as she walked to the front door. Melinda waited till the girl entered the house before she backed around and pulled out of the driveway. She glanced back seeing Skye at the bay window watching her leave. Melinda's thoughts went to Clint and Mike and all the other strays Phil had mentored and nurtured over the years. She smiled as she realized her goof of a husband had very slowly and very subtly made her care about the strays too.

 

Skye woke up at six on Monday as she had started doing. She went for her run, showered, ate breakfast and was on her way to school, walking with Ryan. 

"So how was your sleepover at Leo's."

"Guys don't do sleepovers Skye. Least we don't call them that." 

"Well what do you call them."

"Hanging out." He smirked at her. 

Skye laughed. "Well my sleepover," she emphasized the word sleepover, was awesome. And then finding out Donnie was with the Coulsons was amazing."

"So you know him from a foster home you stayed in together?" 

"Yeah. When I was twelve. Donnie was ten."

"That's cool." 

"Yeah he is, the home not so much."

"How come? What was wrong?"

"What was right would be a shorter answer. Nothing. It was just not good place to be. That's all I'm gonna say Ry."

"Okay. So how was it at Jemma's? 

"We watched movies, talked, and made cookies." 

"That's all? Boring."

"It was great. I'd never been at a sleepover before. So you shut up."

He laughed. "I'm glad you had fun Skye. All Leo and did was work on our Physics project."

Skye shuddered. "I can't believe you actually take two science classes and like them." 

"Well you'd take two computer classes if you could."

"Yeah too bad they don't offer many at school. I've taken all the others at other schools."

"Well you know you can take college classes. Online or even go to the community college here."

"While in school?" 

"Sure it's a cooperative program. You should ask about them when you register for next year's classes."

"You think I'll be here next year Ryan?" 

"Sure. At least through the election next year. Probably after too. Sending you back right away would look really bad."

"Unless he loses." 

"He won't lose Skye. He has money, backers and plays dirty."

"So you're saying I could actually be here over a year? That's never happened Ryan. Ever."

Ryan looked at Skye. She was looking at him with such hope. "Yes. It could. Especially if you listen to me and just stay out of JJ's line of fire."

"Come on Ryan. I never started anything." 

"I know that. But to them once you rock the boat, you are the enemy. You could try to smooth that over."

"How? Should I have let Ward just do that. Should I date him?" 

"Oh hell no Skye. Just stay out of their way."

"I wasn't in Ward's way Ryan. I am trying to stay out of their way. What the hell else can I do?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"Well JJ's ignored me the last week so that's good I guess." 

Ryan nodded. They got to the school walkway. As they got halfway, suddenly Miles and Seth stood in front of them. Four others came up behind them effectually blocking any escape. 

"Hey there Ryan." Seth spoke first. Ryan said nothing. 

"Look cat got his tongue Seth. How come you're being rude. Answer him." Miles smiled dangerously.

"What do you want Seth." 

"What I want is what we all want. For you and your little buddies, including this one, to remember whose in charge."

"You know what I don't get Seth? Why Ryan here is not part of the plan. Why little bro is hated by big bro."

"Well let me tell you." Seth grinned at Ryan. "Does she even know Ryan. Why JJ thinks you're a weak little pussy." 

Skye grabbed Ryan's arm to walk by Miles. He pushed closer to her not giving her a way around him. 

"Move jerk."

"You really need to learn don't you sweetie?" 

"I'm not yours or any one else's sweetie. Get the hell out of my way."

"You think anyone here is going to help you Skye? Look around. Everyone here is with us. Those others," he pointed to the crowd outside the little group, "they know not to cross us. Seems like you haven't learned that lesson yet. Ryan used to know. But hanging around you has made the pussy grow balls. Like those others you hang with. Now you have the soccer players protecting your asses too. See there is an order around here. And you need to find your place. And Skye, you are a low life foster kid. A nobody. You have an arrest record. You are on the bottom rung sweetie. You have no family. No one. Your parents left you. At an orphanage. Your parents saw what a loser you were back then. Guess what? You're still a loser."

Miles reached up and grabbed Skye's wrist. He started twisting it while sneering at her. It was the same wrist she knew without a doubt now that Miles had hurt in gym class. She twisted her shoulder and pulled her arm back just like Melinda taught her, simultaneously getting free and throwing Miles off balance. Then she took her other elbow and brought up into his neck. She stuck out her foot and kicked at his ankle pulling it forward then backed up away from him. He hit the ground hard, falling on his knees. 

Seth yelled. "What the hell?"

All of a sudden Mr. Parrish and Miss Jenkins, two math teachers were there. Skye's heart sped up as Ryan pulled her closer to him. 

Seth spoke out loudly. "Mr. Parrish. She just knocked him down. He wasn't doing anything. That karate stuff or something. She's dangerous." 

"Save it Dormer. Miss Jenkins and I saw the whole thing."

Miles got up and stared angrily at Skye. 

Miss Jenkins moved between them and stood in front of Skye. "Are you okay? How's your wrist?" 

Skye was rubbing her wrist and looked at it. "Um I guess I'm okay. Look I'm sorry but he...."

"You only defended yourself." Mr. Parrish interrupted her. "You two." "He pointed to Miles and Seth. Get to Ms. Price's office now. Wait there for me. Miss Jenkins can you escort Skye and Ryan to their classes." 

"Certainly." 

"Okay everyone move it. It's almost time for first period anyway. Let's go." 

The crowd dispersed at Mr. Parrish's command and they started entering the school. 

Mr. Parrish watched as Miles and Seth stormed off. He turned to Skye and Ryan. 

"Don't worry. We saw everything. Thomas came and got us when he saw what was happening. Do you need to see the nurse for your wrist young lady." 

"No I'm good. I'm Skye. This is....."

"He knows me Skye. He's my Geometry teacher. Thanks Mr. Parrish." 

"It's okay. I'm going to the office. Miss Jenkins will walk you to your classes. The Principal may call you down to her office later as witnesses."

Skye nodded and both she and Ryan followed Mr. Parrish into the building with Miss Jenkins right behind them. Skye and Ryan were both called to talk to Ms. Price and she agreed they were victims and assured them that Miles and Seth would be punished. Skye's day moved rather quickly and she soon found herself at lunch. 

 

Skye walked into the cafeteria with her tray of food. As she got closer to their table her heart started beating faster. She set her tray down and stood looking at him. Thomas was sitting in his regular spot. He looked up at her. 

"Hey Skye."

"Hey Skye. That's what your going with?" 

"Yeah well it is your name." 

"Thanks Thomas." 

He nodded then stood up and hugged Skye. She hugged him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are still in 2015 in this story - Autumn. Lots and lots to come. Still early stages. Most of the characters have now been introduced. Next up more truths are revealed. Thanks for reading. I love reading comments. Take a few seconds and leave one. Tell what you like, don't like, want to see, characters you want to see more of and I will do my best to see what I can do. I do have an overall plan. Hope to get a new chapter up in a few weeks. Have to work on my other 3 stories first though.


	11. Revelations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting a new chapter up. I've been super busy. This chapter is super long. I hope that makes up for the delay a bit. Next chapter hopefully by mid August at the latest. Thanks for reading and comments always inspire me to stay up till late hours of the morning like I did finishing this chapter. 
> 
> Reminders that this is not a Ward friendly AU. There are possible trigger warnings in this story. We meet a few more people, and now have just about introduced all the major and minor players in the story. Only a couple more to be seen down the line. Enjoy the chapter, I had fun writing it even though it was on the heavy and deeper side.

Skye sat in the swing at the park next to Thomas. Ryan and Leo and Jemma were all there as well. They had all walked there after school. At lunch Skye had told everyone what had happened that morning. Everyone was upset realizing they were being targeted even more now, especially Skye. 

"We have to do something."

"What are we supposed to do Leo? They run the school. Those who aren't with them are just too afraid to say or do anything. Hell, some of the teachers encourage them. The rest usually look the other way."

"Lincoln's mom doesn't, Ryan. Neither does Mr. C. Mr. Parrish and Mrs. Jenkins didn't." 

"It's cause no one who cares can ever catch them. And the few times they are caught, their parents smooth it over. I bet nothing happens to Lydon and Dormer. Dormer's dad will threaten to sue and Lydon's mom will promise Ms. Price that little Miles just had a misunderstanding. They will get talked to and maybe told to stay away from Skye. That's it. That's what always happens."

Skye shuffled her feet, bringing her swing to a stop. "I told them. What they said. What they did. Miss Hill and Ms. Price and Parrish were there. The assistant principal was too." 

Leo moved to the swing next to Skye and sat down. "Edison Poe is a jerk. He's always sticking up for them. I swear he worships the ground Garrett and the football team walks on. He and Ms. Price are always at odds."

"He kept looking at me. Like an evil, smirking glare. I swear I almost told him to stop. It was .......ugh.....just...............flipping creepy too. He said since I hit Dormer I should be punished too. Zero tolerance. Parrish said what I did fit into the area of self defense. Said I stopped when I got free of his grasp."

Jemma spoke up then. "Good thing Parrish is a decent man. He's one of the best teachers too."

Everyone nodded except Skye who didn't really know him. Thomas stood up. 

"Guys. I wanted to ......just.........well............Hey I'm sorry."

"For what Thomas? You didn't do anything. Hey you got help."

"Yeah this time. The other times I let my fear stop me."

Ryan stepped forward and touched his shoulder. "Hey come on Thomas. We all know what you go through with Grant being your brother."

Thomas stepped away and moved to lean on the swing poles with a frown. 

Leo looked at Ryan. "No worse than JJ being yours Ryan." 

Ryan looked to the ground. "Not true. JJ doesn't beat me up every other day." His eyes grew wide after he said it realizing he said it out loud. He looked at Thomas who was glaring at him. 

Skye breathed in sharply looking at Ryan and then turned to look at Thomas. "Did he hurt you because of me Thomas?" 

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "He hurts me no matter what. He enjoys it."

Skye looked horrified. "What about your parents?" She stood up and moved in front of him. "Thomas?" 

He shook his head. He looked at Skye. He whispered. "They hate me more than Grant does." 

"Hey!" 

All five turned to look. There was a group of kids headed toward them. Kids from school. All five stood up together with Leo and Skye moving in front. 

The group coming toward them stopped about five feet away. One of the boys took a step forward. 

"Hey. Um I mean......um....hi. I...I...mean we....um.........we just wanted to thank you Skye."

"Huh?" 

A girl broke from the group and approached them. "What Will is trying to say is ...thanks. For standing up to those jerks. It was great seeing that asshole go down. Dormer and Lydon think they own the world. It was good to see them reminded that they don't. Oh I'm Darcy. Darcy Lewis." She held out her hand to Skye. 

Skye took it. "Um thanks I guess."

The boy smiled. "It was outstanding. You did what most of us dream about doing. I'm Will. Will Daniels. That's Ace Peterson and Kate Bishop."

Ace smiled and Kate waved. 

"Darcy? What do you guys want?" Jemma looked at them suspiciously. 

"Look I know I messed up Jemma. I should have backed Leo."

Ace spoke up. "Yeah we both should have. Leo I'm sorry. They threatened us. But still no excuse. We both saw them. What they did to you. I'm sorry."

"Wait. Is this about Leo getting beat up and a broken arm by JJ and his friends." Skye's face was getting angry. 

Ace looked at the ground. "Yeah."

Skye stepped up to him. "You let them get away with it? You're no better then them." 

Ace refused to look up. He simply nodded. Leo moved to Skye and touched her arm. 

"Hey. Come on." 

Skye looked at the new group of kids none of whom would look at her. Darcy finally spoke up. 

"Maybe we got too used to being stepped on. It's easier to look away, easier to stay silent. Maybe we should have done this or that. Maybe we are jerks for being scared. But we are here now."

"Yeah. We just wanted you guys to know, especially you Skye. We have your backs. From now on." 

Leo stepped up to Will. "Thanks Will. He held out his hand. Will took it with a grateful expression. 

Skye's expression grew softer as she watched Jemma hug Ace, and Darcy stepped to Thomas engulfing him in a big hug as well.

"So how do we take over the school." Kate stood looking at Skye. 

"Take over?" 

"Well you know. For the greater good. Make it a safe place for everyone. A place where the worst thing is worrying about whether that is really chicken they are serving in the cafeteria."

Skye laughed. "Really?That's all it took. Me taking down one little punk?" 

"No Skye. It was realizing that you were going to keep fighting back no matter what. Something we all should have never stopped doing." Thomas joined her and Kate. 

Ryan watched everything unfold. He was both proud of Skye and Thomas and terrified for them at the same time. "You guys know that JJ and Grant are not going to stop right?" 

"Neither are we." Jemma's voice was firm even if her expression was a bit unsure. 

Thomas nodded. "Ry we can't keep living like this. We can't let them control our actions anymore. Let them browbeat us, live in fear, be people we aren't because others tell us how we should be, what we should be. You quit band Ryan. Cause your brother and parents said it was a waste of time. Cause your brother beat you up and made you try out for football. You hate football. " 

Ryan's face twisted into anger. "Well I'm not on the team, am I? Didn't make it. My parents want me to be like JJ. Athletic. Strong. Popular. I had no choice Thomas. So I do track and cross country. It keeps them of my back. I had no choice."

"You hate it. We all have choices. You chose the ones you made."

"I had to!" 

"No you chose to. I get it."

"No you don't. You don't." 

"Okay I don't. You walked away. But I didn't walk away Ryan. I was willing to fight, hell I still am. I might lose all the time but I'm still fighting. You, you are living a lie."

"It's .........you..........no Thomas. I'm doing what's expected of me. I have 3-1/2 more years and then I can leave this dump."

"And what in the mean time Ry? You gonna stand around and watch your brother hurt your friends? Maybe break Jemma's arm next time instead of Leo's. Maybe rape her like he did Lanie?" 

"Whoa! Hold on there Thomas! JJ raped Lanie?" Kate's eyes were huge and angry as she glared at Ryan and Thomas. 

Ryan hung his head. Thomas looked at Kate and the others facing them. "Yeah. Him and two of his football posse. Why do you think Joey's in jail." 

"Juvie." 

"It's fucking jail Ryan. A lock down facility for juvenile offenders. For almost killing Kyle. Even though he deserved it. Hell so did JJ. Set up the whole thing. Grant fucking told me. He told me cause he knew I couldn't do anything about it. Said JJ had him watch cause it was JJ's turn and the new guys turn. Said it was their initiation."

"I know." Ryan's voice was quiet and defeated.

Kate got in Thomas's face. "You should have told someone!" 

He nodded. "I did." He rolled up the shirt on his left arm showing a nasty scar. "And this is what I got for it." 

Skye gasped as she saw the 4 inch scar across his shoulder. "Who did........how .....shit ......I'm sorry." 

"He used a switchblade. Did it on orders from JJ. Said no one would believe me but called me a snitch and cut in deep, then pushed me away, and they both walked away laughing. Fifteen stitches and this scar." 

Leo walked up to Thomas. "Initiation? They called rape an initiation?" 

Darcy nodded. "Yeah what the hell do you mean?" 

Ryan spoke up. "He means that the football team has an initiation. Someone they get drunk, slip something too and then a couple guys have their way. They invite the girls. Some participate willingly. Some know and others don't. They never take no for an answer. If the girl tells anyone they always have others vouch for them being somewhere else."

"I think I'm gonna throw up." Skye spoke the words first. 

Jemma added, "Lanie thought Grant liked her. She'd known him for awhile since he and Joey grew up together playing football. She claimed he had another side no one saw. A soft side. Kind and gentle. He treated her well and I don't know ...........I thought maybe she was right. That he just acted like that cause of JJ and football and stuff. Here all along he was playing Lanie. I guess they do it a lot to other girls. She was a good friend. I.....I.......haven't seen her since.........she won't talk to anyone from here." 

"Yeah I don't know what is really going on. Raina was a good friend till last year. She used to scoff at them and talk crap about them with us. Some of those guys are bigoted. I guess JJ doesn't have that issue?" Ace almost spit the last words out. 

"Not about race with JJ. Some of the others are though. With JJ it's all about who you are and if you fit in with them. Take orders and back each other up no matter what. JJ and Grant are bigots in other ways though for sure. They hated Joey when they found out he was gay. Something about that really bothered JJ." 

"How do you know that Leo?" 

"Cause I told him. Others have received that type of message from JJ. Garrett backs him. Says there is no place on the football team for those people. No place at the school even. I know other guys and girls who were verbally harassed or worse for their sexuality." Thomas looked refused to look at anyone while talking.

"This is just sick. JJ and Grant and all the others belong in jail."

"Yeah good luck with that Kate. There is never any proof. Never any witnesses. Always alibis."

"Don't forget the payoffs. Money talks," Ace replied disgustedly.

Thomas nodded. "Right. Parents who look the other way. Some who even buy off victims. Some who threaten the school. Anyone who crosses them is either hurt or ostracized. Wanna play football? You keep your mouth shut and you follow their rules. Wanna be safe in your own school? Keep your mouth shut and look the other way." 

"Jeez when did this shit start." 

"About seven years ago when Christian Ward was the high school football captain." Tripp had walked up while the group was engrossed in their conversation. 

"Tripp. Where did you come from? You know all about this?"

" I saw you guys over here when I got to my car after running through the park. I just heard the last part of the conversation Jemma. If you mean do I know about all the rumors of rape, intoxication, ruffies, cover ups and such, yeah I do. Lincoln heard his mom at a meeting talking and told me. Seven years ago Christian apparently slipped a girl something in her drink, raped her and beat her. He was arrested. He got off on a technicality, and evidence went mysteriously missing. The girl and her parents were basically run out of town because everyone sided with the Wards. Malick and Garrett both claimed Christian was with them at a football meeting with two other guys. The guys claimed he was their too. The DNA evidence went mysteriously missing. After that...."

"After that my oldest brother thought he could get away with anything. That's when he started beating the crap out of Grant and me. That's when he decided he could rule the school. Christian handed down the leadership mantle over the years and now it's JJ's and Grant's." 

"He beat up Grant? Didn't know that." Tripp raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah for maybe a year. Until he told Grant to beat me up. Once Christian knew Grant would do whatever he said, he became one of their team. Then Christian went off to college, Grant got even worse than Christian ever was and here we are. That standard of getting away with everything and privilege was handed down."

"Like a good old boys club." Trip shook his head. 

"You all still have our backs?" Skye crossed her arms and glared at the four newbies. 

They looked at each other and nodded to Darcy. She stepped forward to Skye and stick out her hand. "Unconditionally." 

She took the offered hand and smirked back. "You are probably all crazy." 

Ace looked over at her. "Crazy is better than what they are."

 

A while later only Skye, Ryan, Thomas, Jemma and Trip remained. 

The mood was pretty somber so Trip changed the subject. "So Ryan ready for the cross country meet on Wednesday? Last one of the season, right?" 

"Yeah. For me. Some will move on to compete in the all county tournament and districts later."

"Callie is doing well this season. For a freshman she is number three in the league isn't she?" 

"Yeah I think." 

"You don't know? I thought you guys were tight?"

That got Skye's attention. "You have a girlfriend Ryan? Geez way to tell me." 

Trip and Jemma laughed. 

"Nah not anymore. We broke up a couple weeks back. Still friends." 

"That's all you ever were." 

Skye and Tripp turned to look at Thomas who was wearing an unreadable expression. 

"Shut up Thomas." The warning was quiet but the look was dangerous from Ryan. 

"Yah shut up Thomas. Just pretend Ryan. Right? Lie to everyone. It's only 3-1/2 more years." His look was one of disgust now. 

"Hey guys. Come on. I thought you two were best friends. What's going on?' 

Skye looked at Trip who shrugged his shoulders.

"Thomas?" 

"Skye let it go. In fact we should probably get going, Aunt Vic is going to send out a rescue squad." Jemma got up and gathered her things. 

"Oh hey I can drop you all off at your homes." 

"Actually Trip I'd like that very much." Jemma smiled as Trip picked up her backpack to carry for her. 

"I'm fine but thanks Trip. Only a mile away and I like to walk and think."

"Suit yourself Thomas. The offer stands but I'm leaving now."

"We're right down the road Trip. Thanks anyway." Skye smiled at both him and Jemma. They turned and walked toward the parking lot. 

Skye studied Thomas who appeared to be angry and then looked at Ryan who refused to look at either of them. She could feel the tension. 

"Hey Ryan what's going on?" 

"Nothing. Let's go. I have a History test tomorrow and I need to study."

Skye nodded. "Yeah me too." She got up from the ground and grabbed her backpack. "Man it's getting cold." 

"Where's your jacket? It's almost six at night in upstate New York in October. Of course it's cold." 

"Gee Thomas you sound like Miss May." 

He grinned at her." She sounds like a smart woman. Now you on the other hand." 

"Shut up." 

"Hey let's go Skye," Ryan called. He was already halfway to the parking lot. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." She turned to Thomas. "I don't suppose you are going to tell me what's up with you and Ryan?" 

He shook his head. "Nah. Ask Ryan. Maybe he'll be more honest with you then he is with himself. See you tomorrow Skye." 

He headed off the other way across the grass to the road. Skye stared after him wondering what exactly that meant, then turned and ran to catch up with Ryan who was already at the parking area waiting for her. The walk to the Brody's house was quiet. Ryan was walking fast and it was all Skye could do to keep up his pace. He was almost six feet and his strides much longer then hers. She finally stopped, watching as he put distance between them and yelled to him. He turned around.

"Just go Ryan. It's obvious you don't want to be with anyone. It's only a couple more blocks." 

He walked back to her. "No it's okay Skye. I'm sorry. I'm just thinking."

"About your girlfriend maybe. Or ex girlfriend. Seriously how come I never met her? Have I ever even seen her before?" 

"She's in your gym class. About your height, a bit lighter hair." 

"So how long were you two together? First love?" She grinned as she teased him. He just turned and started walking. Slower then before at least. 

Skye fell into step next to him. "Hey I was just ........." 

"No it's okay. And no not my first love. And we really weren't together. We just hung out sometimes. People thought we were together. I wanted people to think we were together." 

"Oh well lots of guys and girls are just friends Ryan. Look at us. Look at Jemma, she's friends with all of you guys and so am I." 

"Yeah." Ryan stopped and stood still. 

"Hey Ry you okay." 

"I'm fifteen Skye." 

"Yeah. So?" 

"I met my first love last year when I was 14. Well not met exactly. We knew each other for awhile. It was toward the end of the school year. March. We really liked each other, realized how close we were getting. I don't know, maybe even loved each other." 

"Oh okay. You know I was just teasing and........"

"It was Thomas." 

Skye's mouth moved but no words came out. She tried again. " Ah okay I did not see that coming." 

He rolled his eyes at her. "I've know I was gay for awhile. Before Thomas and I were umm...........you know...........dating."

She nodded. Okay. "Yeah?"

"My parents, they don't..........they aren't........they'd never say it publicly but you know....they......they think........it's....there's something wrong with me. In their minds. They think it's a phase. Something I'll grow out of. JJ just wants to beat it out of me or something. The band and acting and stuff....yeah....JJ says it makes me look like a fag so he told me to quit. Said I needed to stop looking like a fag."

"I'm so sorry Ryan. She reached her arms out and engulfed him in a hug. "It's okay Ry. You're okay." 

He wrapped his arms around her and tightened his grip. After a couple moments he pulled away. 

"I hate living in that house Skye. I hate my parents. I hate JJ. I hate those guys at school. I hate track. I hate it all. I mostly hate JJ. Thomas hates me. He thinks I'm a coward for hiding who I am."

"Gonna be honest here Ryan. I didn't have a clue you were gay. Kinda figured Thomas was but it's his business so........"

"Thomas doesn't announce it. But he doesn't really hide it either. Jemma knows about us. Both of us. Leo only knows Thomas is gay. I stayed a couple nights at Jemma's over the summer when I couldn't be here. We talked. She's a good friend. No judging you know. Her aunt Vic talked to me, worries about me. I know I should be honest with everyone no matter what. I know I shouldn't hide who I am. It's just............JJ thinks it's Thomas's fault. That he made me gay. Can you imagine? He is just sick. Grant is just a bully. He's not a leader. Not like his older brother was. That's why it's JJ who is the football captain. JJ uses that to his advantage. Uses Grant to keep Thomas in line. Or tries to anyway. I promised JJ I'd stay away from Thomas. I'd break up with him. It's so fucking messed up." 

"What are you so afraid of Ryan?"

Ryan sighed. Skye felt so bad. He looked so broken. 

"JJ threatened to kill Thomas. He said he could do it and get away with it. He said he's gotten away with everything so why not. He also said dad know some people that could hurt Thomas, so I better just do the right thing. He said that I needed to shape up and be a man. Said if I didn't he would make Grant beat on Thomas every day. He hates gays. Him and Grant. I have no idea why. He hated when Joey told the football team he was gay. He came home and ranted and raved about it being sick and disgusting. That was right around the time I was figuring out I was gay."

Skye put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey Ryan. You're okay. He's wrong."

"I know. I just.........he gets dad all riled up about me. Says no one can know cause of the people Jason Brody wants to vote for him. Malick's been grooming my dad for the Congress position for a couple years. He already has Ward as the Senator. Gideon Malick is this bigwig in politics. Like behind the scenes. Personally I think he's dirty as hell. Got his hands in everything. Maybe even the mob. But no one can ever prove anything. Just like at school." 

 

"Malick? Is he related to the computer teacher?"

"Yeah. Brothers. And Garrett is best drinking buds with him."

"So you are protecting Thomas by not being with him?" 

Ryan looked down at the sidewalk. He nodded. "At first. JJ was happy I saw things his way. Told Grant to lay off Thomas and got the coach to let me try out for the football team. Of course I sucked. But Garrett said I had decent speed and told the track coach to put me on the cross country team. JJ wasn't thrilled but he was okay with that. Then he told me not to do band and that running would take up my time anyway."

"I'm so sorry Ryan. Living like that. It's just so wrong. You need to tell someone." 

"Tell them what Skye? Go where? I'm telling you no matter who I tell, my dad or Malick or even JJ will get to them. No, what I need to do is stay low, keep out of trouble and make it through the next few years. I might even be able to get into college a year early." 

"That's why you double up on Math and Science."

"Yeah. Thomas too. Plus Grant and JJ will be gone in less than two years. JJ's grooming Lydon to take over but at least at home Thomas will be safe once they graduate."

"Ryan. All you told me. All we talked about today with everyone. You need to tell someone. Even if they can't do anything now about the past stuff, they need to know everything that is going on."

He shook his head. "I don't think it will help Skye. No one can stop it. No one can stop them."

"Lincoln's mom. Mr. C. Ryan they will believe you."

"I don't know Skye."

"Even Coulson's wife, Miss May could maybe help. She used to be a cop I think. She has friends that are still cops. Or what about Jemma's Aunt Vic? Her girlfriend is a cop."

"They'll find out. They always do Skye. And now with what you did, JJ is going to send more people after you. Grant will probably beat the crap out of Thomas. JJ might corner me and let me have it."

"You're scared." 

"You're not? After what everyone said today about them? Look Skye you should not be alone okay. Like ever. Not in our house. Not here in front of our house. Not near JJ. Or Grant. Or any of them. Not at school. Locker rooms and bathrooms especially. Thomas and I and even Jemma and Leo have figured out to make sure we aren't alone where they can get us anymore. You see JJ with his friends in a car or something you need to run the other way. I don't know, maybe you should tell your social worker you hate it here. Maybe she can move you." 

Skye's eyes shot up wide. "What? No! Ryan I have friends here. A stable home. I like it here."

"Stable home? Maybe for the moment. Skye JJ is not going to let it slide. He's just biding his time. And dad will back him. Mom's useless. The only way he backs off is if you stop fighting him. You back down, and let his goons do what they want and you play the game."

"Not gonna happen Ry."

"I know. And that's why you're gonna get hurt. You and all the others."

"Come on Ryan you need to stop hiding. You need to join us a fight back."

"I don't know how to fight anymore Skye." She barely heard the whisper. Ryan hung his head. 

"Hey. Hey come on." Skye pulled his head up to look him in the eye. "You're not alone. I'm scared too. But I am tired of being scared Ryan. Aren't you?" 

He nodded. Skye smiled at him. "Good. How much money do you have?"

"His eyes blinked rapidly back at her. "Huh?" 

"Money? She lifted her hand up to his face and flipped her thumb over her fingers. "You know pesos, greenbacks, cash? 

He gave her a small laugh. "I know what money is Skye. What for?" 

"Lessons. Self-defense. You, Thomas, Jemma and Leo and anyone else who wants. Miss May is starting up some classes with the new instructor. Maybe I can mention a beginner self defense class? You guys should all come with me tomorrow and talk to her."

"Skye." He started shaking his head. "We aren't all like you Skye." 

"Like me? Hey I was able to get free from a jerk today. How long have I been taking lessons?" 

He shrugged. 

"Exactly. Even just knowing basics could be a big difference. Wouldn't hurt to see. Check it out. Hey I'm calling Jemma and Thomas now to spread the word."

Skye turned to run up the driveway to the house.

"Hey what if Mr. C's wife doesn't want us all there." 

Skye stopped and waved her hand dismissively. "Ah she's good. She likes me. She'll want to help. Don't worry so much." She turned and walked into the house just as JJ pulled into the driveway. Ryan watched him get out of his car. JJ watched Skye enter the house then turned to Ryan. He pointed his finger like a gun at the place Skye had been and then pulled it back and blew over his finger and gave Ryan a sick smile. JJ walked into the house. Ryan stayed motionless for a few seconds and then grabbed his phone from his pocket. 

He started typing a text. "Hey Thomas. Whatever Skye is going to ramble on about when she calls u just say yes. I'm sorry. 4 everything. I'm fighting back."

 

Melinda walked in holding two pizzas and a bag. Phil had to go to school to teach so she had brought Donnie with her to work. It was lunch time. Natasha was finishing up her class and Melinda didn't have her next one till two. Phil was leaving early from the school to pick up Donnie and get him signed up at the middle school. He would start tomorrow. She nearly lost the bag of chips and sodas as she tripped over one of Natasha's students backpack in the middle of the floor. Donnie braced the bag with his left arm as his right helped to steady her. She smiled gratefully at him. His lips twitched upward a bit. 

She allowed him to take the bag as she headed to the office to drop the pizzas on her desk. He followed setting the bag likewise on her desk. 

"So how many slices Donnie?" 

"Two's fine." 

She got out paper plates and slid two on and handed it to him, grabbing a slice for herself. "Sodas and chips in the bag, help yourself."

Donnie reached for a can and then walked out sitting on the floor by her office. Ever since seeing Skye and listening to her tell him how great the Coulsons were he'd been making an effort to be civil. He was actually quite impressed as he had watched Ms Coulson teach this morning. She was mostly quiet which he respected and she didn't push him to talk. He watched the class pack up and start leaving as he ate. The other woman walked to the office and she nodded at Donnie her face grinning as she saw the food. 

"Is it good? 

He nodded and smiled back. She went into to the office and he heard them talk but couldn't make out what they were saying. He heard laughter and then saw they both were eating. He munched on his second slice. Mr. Coulson was coming to pick him up soon. He wasn't sure about going to a new school but would kind of be glad to be doing something. He thought way too much when he had nothing to do. He stood up and made his way to the office stepping into the doorway. 

"Can I have another slice." 

Melinda got up and brought the second pizza to him. "Take two more. There's plenty."

He nodded and did just that. "Thanks." 

Natasha offered him the bag of Doritos. He dumped some on his plate and grabbed another can of soda, turning to go. 

"You can stay Donnie. There's a beat up couch over there to sit on."

He looked at her and nodded and made his way to the couch. He sat down and took a bit of pizza. He sat comfortably eating and just listening to the two women talk. Ms. Coulson still was not pushing him to join in and maybe just maybe Skye was right about these people. 

He'd eaten a fifth slice and was still sitting in the office looking at some old magazines when Phil Coulson poked his head in. 

"Hey you ready to go?" 

He nodded, and stood up grabbing his plate and can and throwing it in the trash. Phil opened the pizza box and grabbed one of the remaining slices. Since Melinda was teaching a class, Phil just waited to catch her eye and wave. She waved back and smiled. Phil munched down the pizza as they made their way to his car. 

Phil glanced at Donnie wanting to engage him in conversation but was trying to listen to Melinda's warning. She had specifically told him not to push the boy. Several times. He grinned, as he thought of her scolding him all day yesterday for talking too much. Although she had a point, as the boy seemed to gravitate to Melinda's quiet more so than his talking. Oh the boy was nice and polite. Nodding or shaking his head, short one or two word answers but that was about it. Maybe it was men that Donnie didn't like or was afraid of. After all his mom's boyfriend had injured him. Maybe he could get Skye to tell him more about the boy. Nah that probably wouldn't be right he thought. Plus she wasn't exactly the most forthcoming kid he knew. He looked at Donnie again and decided on a safe tactic. 

"You can play the radio if you want. Anything's good. I like anything."

Donnie sat still for a moment and then reached his hand up to turn on the knob. He gave a short nod to Phil and then played with the channels till he found one he liked. It was an oldies station. Phil smiled. 

"Oldies? Are you sure that isn't for me?" Phil saw the boy actually smile. 

"Nah it's this or rap and I'm pretty sure you aren't into rap. So this is cool."

The Rolling Stones cranked out of the speakers as Phil focused on driving and his thoughts. He was really worried about what had happened to Skye that morning. He heard about it at lunch from Rosalind. Knowing she was an apparent target was unsettling for him. He had gotten fond of the girl especially knowing how she had wormed her way into Melinda's heart. Melinda would never admit it but he saw how very quickly Skye had latched onto Melinda as a role model. He saw the caring glances Melinda sent Skye's way when she thought no one was looking. He just hoped that fostering Donnie and mentoring Skye would help heal some of those festering wounds. He pulled into the middle school parking lot and parked his car in a visitor spot. Both he and Donnie got out and headed to the front doors. 

After getting Donnie registered and his classes set up, they left and Phil drove home. Donnie turned the radio back on and halfway home Phil heard the familiar intro to one of Melinda's favorite songs. He peeked at Donnie who was drumming along and mouthing the words to 'Rocket Man'. A dopey smile formed on his face as he drove the rest of the way home. Melinda was already home when they arrived, her two o'clock class was her last since she had turned Monday night classes over to Natasha. They entered the house and Phil smelled the bacon right away. She was making breakfast for dinner. Phil made his way to the kitchen with Donnie following. He saw Melinda at the stove and came up behind her. He bent down to kiss her cheek. 

"Hey you. I could have made something."

"It's fine Phil. It's breakfast." 

"Can I do something?" 

Melinda spotted Donnie in the doorway. "Donnie can you set the table please. Everything's setting on the counter, I just didn't get a chance to put it out." 

He nodded and moved to the counter to grab the plates. 

"Thanks. Hey you like bacon right, and sausage, and home fries."

He nodded again. 

"How do you like your eggs?" 

He shrugged his shoulders. "Any way is fine." 

She gave him a I'm not messing with you look. 

"I like over easy but my mom always broke the yokes. Scrambled is good too." 

"Phil make the eggs. Everything's out already." 

"Yes ma'am. What do you want?"

"Same. And don't break the yokes."

Phil grinned as he saluted his wife. 

Soon enough they were all sitting at the table. Donnie smiled at Phil as he set three perfect over easy eggs on his plate. They passed the other food around and Phil took note that Donnie took large portions of everything. Phil and Melinda talked about their day, mostly their work and Donnie just ate as he listened to their banter. His attention turned to Phil as he heard his name. 

"Oh yeah Melinda, I think you and Donnie have the same taste in music. He played an oldies station and on the way home Elton John came on and he was tapping his fingers and singing along. Right Donnie?"

Donnie looked up and realized that Mr. Coulson was teasing him. Melinda smiled at him. He gave Mr. Coulson a half nod and grabbed another piece of bacon. 

"Who doesn't like Elton John Phil?" She glared at her husband.

"Um ........me?" 

"Shut up. You like him. You took me to a concert to see him. You do so like him."

"Melinda you know I put up with it. For you."

"Phil everyone likes Elton John."

"No actually Mel, they don't."

She glared at him again. "Well Bobbi does. But she always was the smart one in your family. And Hunter. And Mike and Clint, and Izzy and Vic. Look even Skye likes Elton John."

Donnie laughed at the mention of Skye. "Yep. She does. The family we lived with, they played oldies. Well Mrs. Hamilton did anyway. Mr. Hamilton didn't like anything. She played that same station all the time at the house and in the car. Skye can sing really good too. Plays some piano but natural you know. No lessons or anything. She picks it up after hearing it. They had this old upright in the basement. I bet half the keys needing tuning. But Skye managed to play so you knew what the song was. She was in the chorus at the school we were at before everything went nuts. Before Mr. Hamilton...........um..........before.........." Donnie stopped and realized what he was saying. 

"Before what Donnie?" It was Phil who spoke. 

Donnie stared at his plate. It was almost empty except for a half piece of toast and the bacon he had just put there. He bite his bottom lip and refused to look up. 

"Hey." Phil went to touch his arm but Melinda stopped him. She shook her head.

"So Skye can play piano huh? You ever hear her play Elton John?"

Phil gave her a strange look as she just raised her eyebrows at him. 

Donnie finally looked up and swallowed hard. "It wasn't a good place after awhile. That's all I'm saying. Skye made me swear to not say anything. Said it was just better that way. Better to forget."

"But you don't agree do you?" 

"One thing I've learned being in foster care when you have a friend you do what they ask. Skye's my friend."

"Of course. If you promised that's that. So can she play Elton John?" 

"Yeah. A mean version of 'Crocodile rock.'" 

"Good to know. So how about you and Phil do the dishes Donnie. I have some work I need to get done." 

He nodded. "Sure."

Phil got up and threw and threw a towel at him. I'll wash, you dry." 

Donnie had the towel grasped in his hand." Okay."

Melinda took some dishes to the sink and walked up to her bedroom. She sat on her bed and took out her phone. 

"Hey Izzy." She paused. "Yeah I need a favor. You know Skye, right? She waited till Izzy responded. "I need someone to check out a family for me. Name of Hamilton. Her former foster parents." She listened and then spoke again. Yeah it's all I have. Maybe Vic can call in a favor from social services." Melinda rubbed her eyes. "Full name is Mary Sue Poots. She's 14. Currently staying with Jason and Anne Brody. When she was with the Hamilton's a boy two years younger named Donnie Gill was there too." Melinda waited and ran her hand thru her hair. "Yeah let me know if you find anything. Thanks Iz. Goodnight." 

Melinda stood up and took her phone to the nightstand and plugged in the charger. She frowned as she thought about what exactly Skye and Donnie were hiding. She turned on her computer at the desk in the bedroom but then decided she needed to move instead. She slipped out of her jeans and threw on sweats and then moved to the middle of the room to do Tai Chi. 

Phil was washing and telling Donnie where everything went as Donnie dried. He decided to take a chance.

"So what do you think about the new school?" 

The boy shrugged. Apparently he had done his talking for the night and most of that surprisingly directed at Melinda. Phil tried again.

"So you like sports? I play a little basketball. Some of the teachers have a team. We get together and play a few games for charity and stuff."

"Baseball. I like baseball."

"Oh good. Baseball. That's good." Phil was more surprised he got an answer than anything else.

"Yeah I like playing outfield. Centerfield. I hit 420 over the summer playing for a team in my neighborhood. One of the coaches gave me one of his son's old gloves. It's back at ho...........um..........my mom's apartment." 

"We can see about getting more of your stuff. I can call Miss Carter tomorrow if you want." 

"Yeah I'd like to have my glove. And my comics."

"Comics?" Phil's voice almost squeaked. 

Donnie shot him a grin. "Yeah it's a small collection but I got some good ones you know." 

"So you do like comics?"

Donnie shot him a sheepish grin. "Yeah. I was..... I was being..........well I don't know..... I was .......Skye said you guys were okay."

"Yeah I heard."

"So she doesn't say that about anybody. Ever. So you guys must be okay."

"So after we finish up here, you want to check out my comic collection?" 

"Yeah. That might be cool." 

 

A few hours later, Phil watched Donnie as he opened his bedroom door. Donnie paused and turned to face Phil. 

"Thanks." 

"No problem. Goodnight Donnie."

"Goodnight." 

Phil opened the door in front of him and slipped in the room quietly. He saw Melinda sitting up in bed with her laptop on her lap. She was frowning. He walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. 

"You look to be in deep thought." 

She glanced at him and then turned her computer so he could see it. 

"I asked Izzy to find out about these Hamilton's."

"Yeah? And?"

"She must have heard my concern so she asked Vic to nosey around. Look at this."

"What am I looking at Melinda?" 

"There are no families named Hamilton in the system. None. Nothing close to it. She tried it spelled different ways. She cross referenced the name Hamilton with Mary Sue Poots and Donnie Gill. Nothing."

"Um Mel? Is this legal?" 

"Shuush you. It's not hold up in a court of law legal but Izzy said she will work her end tomorrow too. Vic's still searching. It's just all very strange." 

At that moment her phone buzzed and a new email came over. Melinda checked the caller and saw it was Izzy. "Yeah?" She listened and as she listened she also was reading the report connected in the email. 

Phil was reading it too. "What the hell is that?" Why is that a redacted file?" 

Melinda shook her head at him still talking to Izzy. "Okay thanks. Yeah tomorrow. I'll be there."

"Mel what is going on. That is a hospital report of one Mary Sue Poots with most of the information redacted."

Melinda nodded. "I know Phil . And Vic can't get in it. And she has FBI and CIA clearances. I'm going to meet with Izzy tomorrow at lunch. She's going to try another angle at the department."

"You could call in some favors at the FBI Mel." 

"I'll see what Izzy can find first. I might just give Mike a call if this leads nowhere." She shook her head. "I don't like this Phil. This is not normal." 

"We'll figure it out."

"Skye was in the hospital. But why? And why would a hospital record of a foster kid be redacted? They both know the names of their foster parents and there's no record they were ever in the system. Something very fishy is going on Phil."

"I see those wheels turning. You always could work every angle of your cases. I'm sure you can figure this one out."

"I don't do that anymore Phil. I'll let Izzy and maybe Mike take care of it."

"Melinda." 

"No Phil. I'm not that person anymore. I'm going to wash up for bed."

He watched as she closed the bath room door, whispering quietly after her. "Yes Melinda you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up we get some answers. Lincoln and Skye. May and Skye. More connections. Thanks for reading. Let me know if you like the direction of this story.


	12. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Sorry for the hiatus. Been busy with life stuff, family, school, work. I may have long stretches between but I will not abandon my stories. I did make it pretty long so there is that. This chapter has trigger warnings. Triggers for violence, talk of sexual assault and threats. Plsu do not read if you would be triggered. Lots of drama in this one. I do hope to continue a schedule of updating all my stories every 1-2 weeks now. Which means this one should have another chapter before Christmas. Maybe even around Thanksgiving. But no promises. Thanks for reading.

Skye moved to Mr. C.'s Desk as the rest of he class made their way out of the classroom. 

"Hey Mr. C."

He looked up and smiled. "What's up Skye."

"Yeah so I don't need a ride to Miss May's after school today."

"You're not going? Is something wrong? Did you get hurt yesterday? You know I meant to ask you if you were okay." 

"Oh yeah, um no. I'm good. Um a couple of my friends are gonna check out classes there and I'm going with them. Lincoln and Trip are taking us."

"Oh okay. A couple of friends huh?" 

"Yeah. Do you think your wife will be okay with that? I think Natasha is starting a new beginner class so ..........."

"I think it's great Skye. And so will Melinda."

"Okay. Oh hey how's Donnie? He started school today right?"

"Yeah he was a little nervous I think. I'm going to pick him up after school . I'll stop by the gym so you can talk to him."

"That's cool. So things good at home then? With Donnie?"

"Better. Much better. Thanks for the endorsement."

She grinned. "Well everything I told him was true. He's real smart Mr. C. And he's a nerd. You two should get along great." She laughed loudly as she turned to leave. "See you later."

Phil smiled fondly as he watched her make her way to the door. As she got there, Miles and Raina walked in. Miles smirked at her looking her up and down. 

"Hello Skye." Raina's voice was sickingly sweet. "Mr. Coulson, Seth won't be here today. He's been suspended. And I see you're not." The last comment was directed at Skye.

Phil got up and quickly moved toward the door. But Miles and Raina made a wide berth as Miles gestured for Skye to walk through the door. She glanced back at Mr. C and raised her eyebrows then continued to walk out of the class. As she almost made it out the door Miles spoke again.

"I'll see you later Skye." He smirked at her as she understood his words were a threat, she grimaced but kept going. Phil gave both Miles and Raina stern looks but sat down as he watched the two smile sweetly at each other. 

 

Melinda was finishing up her three o'clock class of mostly 20 something women, when she saw Skye enter the building surrounded by at least 6 other teens. Phil had called her after lunch to tell her what Skye had told him. She finished the last set of exercises and then dismissed the class. She walked over to the spectator chairs where Skye and the others had gathered. 

"Hey Skye." She flashed her a bright smile. 

Skye grinned at her. "Hey Miss May. So um these guys here", she pointed around her, "they all want to learn self defense. I told them to stop by and check out your place and sign up."

Melinda surveyed the crowd of teens. "Any of you have any experience or training in martial arts?" 

They all looked at each other shaking their heads, except for Ace who spoke up. 

"I know some judo and some karate. My brother taught me."

Melinda nodded. "No belts or levels?" 

"No I kinda didn't stick with it too long. Baseball takes up a lot of my time. It really helped though with balance and stuff. I'm Ace Peterson." He stuck out his hand which Melinda took. 

"Melinda May. Good to know. Oh hey........ Peterson. Is your brother Mike Peterson?" 

"Yeah that's right."

Melinda smiled fondly. "I worked with him on some cases back some time ago. Before he........."

"Yeah, before he was injured."

Melinda sighed. "Yes. Before. He still working for the police department?" 

"Yeah, desk duty. Hates it. But he does it cause of me. Since he found out about me and took me in." 

"Well good to meet you Ace." She smiled and then offered her hand to the next teen. 

"I'm Kate. Kate Bishop." 

"Will Daniels ma'am. Good to meet you." 

"I'm Simmons and that's Fitz." 

"Jemma and Leo. Skye mentioned you two." 

Jemma smiled at Skye. Ryan stepped forward.

"I'm Ryan Brody. Skye's..........um.........she um...we are......."

"He's my brother. Ryan's my brother." Skye gave him a pointed look. 

He grinned back at her his eyes shining. "Yeah my sister. Skye's my sister." 

Melinda took the offered hand. "I'm Melinda May. Students call me Miss May. Welcome. We are going to start a new class with my new instructor, Natasha. She will be here soon for her 5Pm class. You guys can stay and watch if you want. The new class will be Saturdays at 12 noon. It will be a beginner self defense and will last 12 weeks. She will teach basic defense and basic martial arts skills. After that, you can see if you want to continue with more classes and sign up for them accordingly. Cost will be $6 a class or $60 if you pay for all upfront."

Skye turned to look at Melinda. She knew that was probably half what she normally charged. Melinda winked at her. Skye felt a lump forming in her throat. She was doing all this for her. No one did nice stuff for her ever. Well least not till she walked into the Coulsons' life anyway. Tears were threatening to fall so she pushed them down and did what she does best. 

"See I told you if you all looked like a bunch of bedraggled weak hopeless kids, she'd feel sorry for your asses and cut you a good deal."

Melinda laughed and everyone joined in. 

"Is that price going to be a problem for any one? If so I'm sure we can work something out." 

Everyone shook their heads no. Jemma leaned over to Skye. "Hell Vic will pay for everyone if she thinks I am doing something physical.' Skye laughed. 

"Oh hey sorry I'm late." Thomas rushed over to the group. 

"Thomas. I'm so glad you are here." Skye reached to him and gave him a quick hug. 

"I'm glad too." Ryan smiled. Thomas walked over to him. 

"Did you mean it Ry? You are with us?" 

"Yeah. I meant it. And I'm sorry it took this long to figure it out. For that, you can thank Skye. Figuring it out. I'm done hiding." 

Thomas moved in front of him and Ryan made the first move, flinging himself into Thomas's arms. Melinda wasn't quite sure what was going on but she knew whatever it was monumental. She'd have to remember to ask Skye. The rest of the group gathered around the two talking while Melinda walked over to Natasha who was just coming through the door. 

"Natasha. I found you a new class." 

 

Ryan groaned again as was sprawled across Skye's bed. 

Skye poked him with her foot as she sat in the chair next to the bed with her feet up on the bed. "Wuss." 

"Everything hurts Skye. She's brutal. I thought cross country was hard." 

"For crying out loud Ryan, she only taught you for 40 minutes to see if you wanted to join the class and show you what it was about. The real class is 90 minutes." 

He groaned again. "Ugh 90 minutes. I may die Skye."

She giggled. "You are being such a drama queen." 

"Did you just make a sexuality joke Skye?" 

"Oh for Pete' sake. You are a drama king. And a wuss." 

"Oh hey I seem to remember some girl who whined and moaned around here after her first couple of lessons. Something about not being able to life her arms and dying."

She through a pillow at his face. "Shut up." 

"Uggggg. Seriously Skye. I used muscles I don't remember studying in biology class."

"Shit. Biology. I have a test on Thursday and I need to study. It's gonna be hard too. Bio sucks." 

"You just hate science Skye unless it's computer Science or tech stuff."

"Yeah I do. Bio is hard and it sucks. So get out so I can study." 

"Well I can help." 

"Yeah maybe tomorrow. I need to read the chapters first."

"You haven't read the chapters yet? Skye!!"

"OH shut up. I've been busy. Did I mention how boring bio is and that I hate it?" 

"What chapters? 

"Three and four."

"Read them Skye. Then do the questions at the end of each chapter. I'll help you study then tomorrow." He slowly got up moaning as he did so. "I need to do chem work and History anyway. I'll bring a bowl of ice cream up later. For both of us."

Skye smiled. "Sounds like a plan." He left her room and she sighed. She reached into her backpack and prepared for a night of misery. 

 

Melinda stuck her head into the living room. She grinned. Phil and Donnie were watching some superhero movie and bantering back and forth about who could beat who in a fight. She shook her head and proceeded up the stairs. It had been a long day and she was planning to take a hot shower and go to bed early. She made it to her room when her phone buzzed. She checked the caller id. 

"Hello Skye. Everything okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm good Miss May. I just wanted to thank you for what you did today."

"No problem."

"Yeah I know how much you really charge remember?" 

"I do believe you hacked my computer yes." 

"Ah well, um anyway thanks."

"Skye I am glad to help. What's going on at the school should not be. Least I can do is help people be able to defend themselves. Which I heard you did fine with by the way."

Skye gave a chuckle. "I surprised myself. It kind of just came naturally."

"Muscle memory. Learn the skills and you don't even have to think about what you are doing. You've worked very hard Skye. I'm proud of you." 

Skye swallowed hard. "Thanks," she barely could whisper. "It's because of you I could finally stand up for myself." She didn't say the rest of what she was thinking. That it was because of Melinda that she had started thinking she was worthwhile, that she mattered. "Well I need to study for stupid biology, so I have to go. I just wanted you to know I was grateful. They both now knew it was not just about today she was talking about. 

" Anytime I can help Skye. Anytime." 

"Goodnight." The lump was back in Skye's throat. She hung up before Melinda would hear her sob. 

Melinda smiled as she put her phone down. She walked to the bath to take a shower wondering for the hundreth time how a certain 14 year old girl was able to tear down her defenses. 

The week went by very quickly. Skye was busy studying and taking tests and writing her English paper. Gym class was weird in that no one bothered any of them and no one seemed to pay any of them any mind in school at all, which is of course why Jemma and Ryan were nervous wrecks. 

"I'm telling you Skye, they are doing this on purpose. Trying to get into our psyche and make us nervous." Jemma passed Skye her part of lunch that she now just made automatically for her friend. Today it was PB and Marshmellow, cheese, a blueberry muffin, and grapes. 

Skye laughed. "Well if that's their plan Jemma, guess it's working for them cause you are being really, really paranoid. 

Jemma frowned and held the last item, a slice of Vic's famous pumpkin roll, just out of Skye's reach. "Oh but not only are they trying to make us nervous and worried by not doing anything Skye, they are planning something. Some way to get back at you most likely for Dorner spending 3 days in detention after his one day suspension. And he can't play in tomorrow's JV football game. Goes on his permanent record too and I bet his mother was not very happy about that."

"You can say that again." Darcy pulled up a chair, set her tray down on the table and sat next to Jemma. "I heard her screaming at Ms. Price when I walked in to give a note to the secretary. 

Skye stood halfway up and grabbed the pumpkin roll from Jemma. She broke off a piece and shoved it in her mouth savoring the sweet treat as she sat back down. Around her chewing she added her thoughts. "Eh, they aren't all the brightest you know. I bet they were told to just lay low for a few days. No deep dark sinister plan at all."

"Don't ever underestimate JJ. He's smart Skye. And he knows how to play the game maybe even better than Christian ever did. He's smooth and he's dangerous." Leo added as he stuffed a bite of his own piece of pumpkin roll in his mouth. 

"Yes. He's dangerous and he's manipulative." Ace said. "Smooth is an understatement. Look how he and some of the others get people like Raina to blindly follow them. To them it's all just a game." 

Skye smiled. She looked around the faces at the table of their expanding group. Besides her, Thomas, Leo and Jemma, the original group they also had Lincoln, Trip, Darcy, and Ace, sitting with them at this lunch. She knew Ryan sat with Kate, and Will and even Callie had joined them for second lunch.

"What are you smiling at girl?" 

Skye looked at Trip and her grin got wider. She shook her head. "Nothing. It's just cause of us. You know." She waved her arm trying to make him understand. He smiled back at her. 

He nodded. "Yeah, it's cool." 

The conversation continued with everyone chiming in about what JJ and the rest might be planning. Skye finished her dessert and then dug into the rest of the meal Jemma packed for her, just listening to the chatter of her friends.

 

Lincoln had a soccer game that night and Skye had talked everyone into going. They were sitting in the stands and Skye was shivering. She had brought only a light sweatshirt with her. Their team was wining and Skye had screamed loudly when both Trip and Lincoln scored goals. Now it was the beginning of the second period and Skye decided she wanted hot chocolate desperately. She climbed over Will and Darcy and Callie to walk down to the stand. She paid for her hot chocolate and gripped it with her cold fingers, savoring the heat pouring off the cup. 

Suddenly she felt someone brush against her and pin her against the counter in front of her. 

"Hey there Skye. Let me warm you up." 

Skye stilled and stopped breathing. Ward. She glanced at the two people working the concession stand but they were at the other end taking orders from......shit..........Miles, Raina, and a bunch of their friends. Skye focused and tried to step to the side away from his body. He anticipated her move and blocked her in and also brought his left arm around hers tightening his hold. 

"Hey settle now. You aren't going to be able to blindside me like you did with Dorner. Besides I know you like it." He pulled her closer and rubbed his body against hers. "Soon baby we will do more than this. Count on it. But for now, just a warning. Did you really think we were going to stand by and let you win? Let you and bunch of misfits take over?"

Skye screamed. A very loud blood curling scream which startled Ward enough that he lost his grip on her arms and she smashed his ribs with her elbows. Raina and Miles had surprised looks as the two concession workers practically ran to her. 

"Are you okay?" 

Ward backed off then and offered the women a cheeky grin. "Oh sorry I guess I scared her too good. was just trying to be funny you know, as he winked at them. 

"Oh well You should probably not do that again Grant." One of the workers smiled back at him. 

"Yeah I know. Sorry babe. Didn't mean to startle you. Forgive me?" Now he looked directly at Skye. 

She was shaking her head. "No no.........you are not going to get........."

JJ cut her off as he sauntered up to Ward's side. "Hey come on sis. He said he was sorry, Besides I put him up to it, so if you're angry at anyone it should be me." He turned to the women. "My sister is a bit jumpy with Halloween and stuff. Bad experiences in foster care." He shot Skye a concerned look. 

"Oh that's too bad."

"Yeah so we best be going. Game's getting good. Come on guys." everyone turned away and followed him back to the stands. Skye stood there gaping after them. 

"Here honey. Have another cup of cocoa. It'll calm you down some. Isn't JJ such a wonderful young man?" 

Skye felt tears threatening as she took the offered cup and turned away. She glanced back at the group and saw Ward watching her. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. She felt like she was going to be sick. Her hands began to shake and she dropped the cup on the ground. She felt her stomach lurch and her eyes blurred. She ran for the restroom in the gym. She saw the restroom filled with people and continued to run down the hall. 

"Hey you can't go down there." Mr. Anderson, one of the music teachers yelled after her.   
Bobbi Morse was working security at the school saw the blur run by her and said to him,  
"I'll get her." She sprinted after the girl seeing her turn right at the end of the hallway. Bobbi slowed knowing there was a gate closed there and the girl would be going nowhere. She turned the corner expecting to find the girl waiting, instead the gate was opened and the girl no where to be seen. 

"Crap. How'd she open that." The metal gate's secure lock had been hacked. Bobbi continued down the hall stopping every few steps to listen. She tried a few of the classroom doors but they were all locked. At the end of the hall she saw a custodian room with a buzz in lock. She pushed on it and it opened. She flicked on the light and glanced around. She spotted the girl sitting between the buckets and brooms, pressed into the wall, legs up with her arms wrapped around her knees. In the stillness she could hear the sobs. Bobbi sighed and moved slowly to the girl. 

"Hey you can't be in here. Come on let's go back okay?" 

The girls shoulders were shaking and she did not acknowledge Bobbi. Bobbi took a couple steps closer, keeping her eye on the girl. She got within 2 feet and the girl's head popped up looking right at her. Tears streaked her face and she was continuing to shake. Her breath was coming in gasps and Bobbi knew what a panic attack was when she saw one. She backed away a few steps and put up her hands. 

"Hey I'm not gonna hurt you okay? I'm just gonna sit over here till you can talk to me alright?" She slid down to the floor and leaned her back against a pile of crates continuing to watch the girl. It was a few minutes before she saw the girl sniffling and looking around the room. 

"Sorry."

The voice was very small. Bobbi waited patiently. 

"I didn't mean to be where I'm not supposed to be. Sorry." 

Bobbi allowed a small smile to form. "It's okay kid. Wanna tell me what happened."

Skye emphatically shook her head from side to side. "I just need to sit her for a couple more minutes kay?" 

Bobbi looked at the small girl curled into herself. "Sure kid." She watched as the girl closed her eyes and focused, her breathing getting under control and her shaking stopping. After a few more minutes, as Bobbi watched the girl gain control, the girl stood up and then glanced back over to Bobbi. 

" I didn't break the locks. Just broke into them. Sorry bout that. Are you going to arrest me?" 

"Nah. I wasn't planning on it. Just want you to not be somewhere you shouldn't you know. It's my job to watch that and all."

"Yeah." Skye took a few steps toward Bobbi and then stuck out her hand. "I'm Skye. And I really am sorry." 

"I'm Bobbi and I said it's cool. Let's just get out of here and back where you are supposed to be alright?" 

Skye nodded. Bobbi moved to go to the door but she turned back quickly. "Wait. Skye? Your name is Skye?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Melinda May's Skye?" 

Skye's eyes widened. "Huh?" 

"Melinda May. Do you know her? And Phil?"

Skye nodded slowly. "Yeah Mr C is my history teacher and Miss May is teaching me self defense. You know them?"

Bobbi gave her a huge smile. "Yeah Phil's my brother. So you are Skye."

Skye looked at her with a smirk. "Whatever they said isn't true."

Bobbi laughed. "Oh please. They adore you."

Skye turned a bit red as she looked at her converse. 

"Heard you even like Elton John. Much to Phil's dismay of course. 

Skye burst into laughter. "She told me the story."

"Oh she did now?" Bobbi shook her head. Melinda must really like this kid. She held out her hand to Skye. "Come on we really need to get back. The game is probably over by now."

"Oh shit. My friends are gonna be worried." Skye's face changed as the smile disappeared and she headed out the door. 

"Hey can you lock this room back up before we go?" 

Skye stopped at the control panel and punched in a few numbers then motioned for Bobbi to close the door. It locked. Bobbi was impressed. They did the same at the hallway door and then ran past a few remaining people using the restroom before they left. They ended up outside in the midst of a dispersing crowd. Bobbi stayed near Skye as the girl searched for her friends. She watched the girl freeze as a tall young man approached her. He smiled and called her name. Skye stepped backward. Not a normal thing to do. Bobbi pushed over to her. 

".......so I Just want to be clear you got the message babe." 

Skye was breathing faster and Bobbi could feel the anger. She placed herself in front of the guy. 

"I'm not sure who you are or what game you are playing, but you better back off now and you better stay away from Skye." Bobbi practically spit the words at him. 

"What.... who do you think...................oh, yeah hello officer. It's fine. She and I are old friends. Just passing on a message. Right Skye. We're good." He winked and then turned and walked away blending into the crowd. Another young man came running up to Skye. This one had on a soccer uniform and was grinning. This one Bobbi knew. 

"Hey hey Skye. Did you see that? We won! We made it to the semis!" He stopped short as he noticed Skye's posture and angry face. "Hey what's wrong?" 

Skye looked at him, shook her head and smiled. "Nothing Lincoln. Yeah I saw. You scored. It was great." 

"Hello Lincoln." 

He turned to see Bobbi next to Skye. "Hey Miss Morse. How are you? Working security tonight huh? Is Hunter here." 

"Actually yes. He was in the stands watching. He does like a good soccer game. You know Skye then."

He smiled. "Yeah." 

Bobbi looked at Skye wanting to stay by the girl maybe even get her to talk but she was technically still on duty and was supposed to help with parking lot and traffic control. She decided to trust Lincoln to stay with the girl. 

"Hey I have to get back to work. Lincoln you will make sure Skye gets with her friends right?" She gave him a pointed look. 

He shot her a concerned look before nodding. "Yeah sure I will."

She moved on then walking past them. "Okay then. Hunter will probably call you later Lincoln. Bye." She walked off. 

"Whose Hunter?" Skye asked. 

"Oh he's my club coach. I play for a soccer club too not just the high school."

Skye smiled at him her anger and fear fading. Just then Jemma and Kate came up to them. 

"Hey did you guys see Will anywhere? He went to the restroom right after you left Skye. The others are looking for him in the parking lot." 

"Did you try his cellphone?" 

"Yeah there is no answer." Thomas came up to them with Darcy and Ace behind him."

Thomas's phone buzzed. He fished it out his pocket and answered. His face turned grim. 

He took off running to the other side of the gym building. "Come on!"

The others sprinted after him. Slowing to a stop after he rounded the corner of the building he saw Leo and Ryan standing over someone lying on ground. Skye nearly ran into him. as he stopped both seeing Will laying motionless. Skye froze as Thomas and some of the others knelt down by the still body. Thomas felt at his neck for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief. He was alive but his face was battered and his leg was under him at an awkward position. Lincoln reached to his phone and called Hunter. Skye moved to Ryan who had a piece of paper grasped in his hand. She stood in front of him as tears fell from his eyes. He held up the paper. It was a picture of Melinda's Place with an x drawn on it. The x was red. It was Will's blood. Skye too the paper and walked over to the building wall and sank down pulling her knees up. This was all her fault. 

Soon many people were there including Bobbi and other police who had security duty plus the two regular school security guards. A siren sounded in the distance. Skye just stared at the paper in silence. All around her people were talking and yelling and moving but she just sat holding the paper. Lincoln came to her and knelt down trying to talk to her but she waved him away. Next Ryan came over as they were loading Will into the ambulance. Skye said nothing even as she heard Darcy and Kate crying. She heard Ryan move away and talk to Lincoln but did not focus on the words they were saying. She just kept staring at the paper. Her fault. She caused this. Someone either JJ or Ward or someone with them hurt Will because of her. 

Bobbi watched as the ambulance pulled away. She was pissed. This was on her watch and should never have happened. She glanced at the teens who were giving statements. Her eyes moved to Skye who hadn't moved since she had gotten there. She walked over to her. 

"Hey Skye." She spoke softly. "What's in your hand?" 

Skye slowly turned and her eyes focused on the blond woman. "My fault."

Bobbi blinked and then moved a few steps closer falling to her knees next to Skye. "No Skye. Whoever did this, it's their fault." Bobbi didn't quite understand everything but was beginning to get the gist of it after talking with Lincoln. "Can I have the paper please." 

Skye let it fall to the ground. Bobbi picked it up with a gloved hand. Her eyes shot open wide when she saw it was a pic of her sister in laws gym. 

"Skye? Do you know what this means? " 

"It's a warning." Ryan stepped next to her. "We are all taking classes to be able to protect ourselves, to fight back and it's a warning to stop. Beating up Will is them warning the rest of us that we are not safe unless we tow the line. Follow the status quo." 

"Who are they?" 

"Doesn't matter. You won't be able to prove a thing. Every single one will have a alibi. Back each other up. There won't be fingerprints on that picture either." 

"They are above the law. That's what they think." Thomas joined in. "They haven't been caught and they believe they can't be caught. JJ, Grant, Miles, Raina and the rest."

"Well we can question them. Especially if they were here at the game. Give me their full names." 

Bobbi took down more information as slowly everyone left the area. Soon it was just Lincoln, Skye, Thomas, Ryan and her. 

"Come on guys, I'll drive you all home." Lincoln held out his hand to Skye. She ignored it. 

Ryan tried. "Hey Skye. Come on. Let's go home okay?" 

She shook her head. "I can't. Not if he's there. Not tonight Ryan. You shouldn't go either."

"She might be on to something there Ry." Thomas gave him a sad look. "I'd have you both stay with me but hell Grant may actually be worse than JJ." 

"Well you both can stay at my house the night. Even you Skye, you could too." Lincoln gave her a small smile.

"I think I'll take you up on that Lincoln." JJ is going to be on the warpath since the police are probably knocking on his door right now to talk to him." 

Thomas nodded at Ryan glad he wasn't going home. "Just drop me off at Leo's please Lincoln. I already texted him and he has a spare bunk he keeps a standing invitation on." 

Lincoln nodded at the two as he offered his hand to Skye. "Come on Skye." 

She ignored him and stared into space. Lincoln knelt down and touched her arm. "Hey Skye..........." She pulled away from him and her expression was unfocused.

"Don't touch me." 

Lincoln froze for a second. Then he tried again. "Hey look I know it's been a lot to take in but............"

Skye jumped up pulling away from him. "A lot to take.........A lot. Yeah Will is hurt bad and Grant Ward basically threatened to rape me and JJ is a psycho." Skye started pacing. "It's all my fault. I should have listened to you Ryan. I should have stopped." 

"Whoa what are you talking about Skye? Rape? Grant threatened to rape you? When? What are you .........son of a bitch. I'm going to kill that bastard." 

"Hey Lincoln. calm down." Bobbi stepped up to him. "Look everyone needs to just calm down." She glanced at Skye who was pacing and was wringing her hands, muttering to herself. She appeared to be on the edge maybe heading to another panic attack. "Skye. Hey come on." Bobbi thought that Skye going to Lincoln's was perhaps not a great idea considering the state Skye was currently in. She needed someone who could calm her down, someone who could understand a panic attack. Someone like Melinda. "Hey I have an idea." 

 

Melinda put down her cell phone and frowned. Phil saw as he was finishing up grading some of his students' papers. Donnie was in his room doing homework. 

"What?" 

"That was Bobbi. She is bringing Skye over. She needs a place to stay tonight."

"Why is that. And why would Bobbi know Skye?" 

"She was working the soccer game. Extra security. She remembered we have a foster license." Then Melinda filled in Phil on what Bobbi told her about what happened. She then went upstairs to make up the daybed she had in the room she used as an office. Panic attack. According to Bobbi Skye had one and was not far off from having another. She didn't know what Bobbi thought she was going to be able to do, but she wasn't going to turn the girl away if she needed a place to stay for the night. She heard the doorbell and then heard muffled voices as she went out the room and stood at the top of the stairs. Skye was standing awkwardly As Bobbi was speaking to Phil. Melinda walked back to Donnie's room and knocked on the door. 

"Yeah?" 

Melinda opened the door. "Skye's here and she needs to stay the night. I'd appreciate it if you would come on down as I'm sure she'd be glad to see you."

He jumped off the bed with a huge grin. "Yeah sure." All of a sudden he stopped. "Wait. She's staying the night? Did something happen?" 

Melinda nodded. Then she turned and left the room. Donnie followed her down the stairs. 

"Hey Skye." 

She gave him a small smile and hug. Melinda looked at the young girl and her heart felt heavy. Skye looked like she had been thru a war zone. She saw Melinda looking at her. 

"Hi Miss May. Um.............th......thanks for um, uh....let...........um letting me crash." 

"Not a problem Skye. You look tired. How about I show you your room." 

"Yeah great." 

"Okay come on then. "She turned to head back up the stairs calling out as she took the first steps. "Hey Bobbi I made coffee. Help yourself." 

Melinda continued up the steps with Skye behind her and Donnie last. They got to the den and Melinda went in the door. Donnie stopped Skye.

"Skye are you okay? What happened? I mean why are you here? Did they do something to you? The Brodies?"

Skye sighed and shook her head. "Nah I'm good. Just need some space and time to clear my head."

He gave her a look. "Sure right." 

""Look Donnie, I just need some space now. I'll talk to you in the morning. Okay? And I'm really tired. And still cold." She gave him a pleading look to just let it go. 

"Okay. Get some sleep then. But I will see you in the morning."

She nodded and hugged him again. "Night dweeb."

"Twerp." 

She smiled and entered the room as Donnie retreated back to his room two doors down the hallway. She saw Melinda adding a couple blankets to the daybed she had made up. 

"I over heard you say you were cold. Just in case you need them. I have 3 blankets here. Oh and Bobbi did mention you might need something to sleep in. She held up a pair of sweatpants and oversize T shirt. The pants are new and the shirt is clean. I mean if you want to use them."

"Thanks." 

"So you need anything else? Are you hungry? Thirsty? I could get you some hot chocolate if you want." 

Skye froze. Her mind shot back to earlier when all she wanted was to grab a hot chocolate to warm up. She could feel him pressing against her all over again. She blinked rapidly trying to hold the tears back, as she sank to her knees. She hugged her arms around herself and tried to regain control. 

"It's okay Skye. It's going to be okay. Whatever it is you are okay. I'm right here." And she was. Somehow she had quietly just knelt next to Skye. Skye looked at her through her tear blurred eyes. Her hands started shaking. 

"I"mmmmm..........soooorry. I c...c...can''t ......I'm just........." 

Melinda took a chance and reached out a hand to touch Skye's shoulder in comfort. That did Skye in. She flung her body at Melinda's wrapping her arms around her waist and sobbed into her shoulder. Melinda put her arms around the distraught girl and rocked her back and forth talking quietly to her. 

It was nearly an hour later when Melinda left Skye who was sleeping in the daybed, and made her way downstairs. Bobbi was still there. 

"She sleeping?" Phil reached over to pull Melinda into a hug. She pulled back away after a few moments. 

"Yeah. I got her to wash up and change in the bath and then stayed with her till she fell asleep. She was exhausted." 

"Phil said she looked pretty bad when he looked in Melinda."

"Slight panic yeah."

"She had a pretty bad panic attack tonight. Ran from the concussion stand into the school and down halls where she wasn't supposed to be. I found her shaking and crying in the Janitors closet. Then later after we found the hurt boy, she sort of just shut down." 

Melinda nodded. "She's sleeping now."

"Did she talk to you? About what happened. Why she had the panic attacks?" 

Melinda shook her head. "Not directly. She just kept apologizing for causing the mess as she put it. Said it was her fault."

"She said that to me too."

"Something triggered her. And then with Will being beat, the emotions stayed high and volatile. I know what it's like. I've been through it."

"Yeah that's why I thought of you guys when she said she couldn't go home tonight. Something or someone scared her into a panic attack." 

Melinda frowned. "This business with these kids Phil. It has to be someone with that group of kids." 

"Oh I know. But proving it is another story. Tell her Bob." 

"We questioned everyone that Lincoln and some of the others said they saw at the game. A Miles Lydon, Raina something, Senator ward's son, JJ Brodie. A couple other football players. No one gave anything away and everyone had an excuse."

"How is Will?" 

"I talked to Hunter about 15 minutes ago. He's still unconscious, nasty bruises and cuts on his face, neck and chest and a compound fracture to his tibia. We'll go over tomorrow and get a statement. Doctor said he should be awake then."

"This is getting out of control Phil." 

"It's been out of control. Bobbi and I were talking and I was filling her in on what I know about it. She wants to set up a meeting with Roz, guidance, some teachers and the school board." 

"Yeah and we need some of these kids to be there too. To tell what has been going on. You think they will?" 

"But it would be only hear say with no proof Mel. You know how the law works." 

"Damnit Bobbi, they are getting hurt. Kids are getting hurt. And being threatened. I just held a 14 year old who was shaking and crying and blaming herself. We need to fix this." 

"No one is arguing that point Mel."

"Yeah we will. I called Roz. She is going to set up an assembly to make it clear this crap is not going to be tolerated. She is going to ask the school board for permission for the police to come onto campus and patrol around more the next few weeks. Maybe hire more security guards. Also when we meet she wants to ask for teacher volunteers to spend their free period in halls and the cafeteria. She also wants to meet with Skye and Thomas and all the kids who joined the defense class."

"All those are great steps Phil. But we really need witnesses. Proof." 

"Well maybe with talking to everyone, something will shake loose."

"You need to contact Skye's social worker. Tell her what happened. Tell her Skye doesn't feel safe in her foster home." 

"No!!"

The three adults looked in the doorway. Donnie stood there. He was angry. 

"You can't. The social worker will take her away and put her in another foster home or group home. They'll move her."

"Yes Donnie. She can't stay somewhere she is not safe." Phil got up to go to the boy.

Donnie backed away from him. "She likes it here. She has friends. She likes school. She likes your classes." He waved his arm at Melinda. "You can't take that away. She finally feels ........um ............." he looked down. 

"Melinda prodded him softly. "She finally feels what Donnie?" 

Hey looked up at her. "Like she matters." 

Melinda nodded. " She does. To us. To me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what will happen with Skye? Is Will okay? What about Thomas and the others? Tune in next time.


	13. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. I will not abandon my stories. Sometimes it may be a long time between chapters. I have put two of them on temporary hiatus, cause I plan to focus on the others and bring them to conclusions. This one will start moving rather fast after this chapter and I hope to put up another chapter within the month since it is started. I was going to continue but felt it best to stop this chapter where I did. It is a lot of internal stuff going on, and one big new setback. Hopefully you like where the story is going. Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you want.

Skye woke up slowly, stretching her legs and arms. She spied the blue curtains on the window. Wait. Blue. She had light tan curtains in her room. She shot up and looked around the room and then gasped. This wasn't her room at the Brody's. She was at the Coulsons. The memories of the previous night came flooding to her mind. She pulled her knees up to her and hugged them as she felt the tears well up in her eyes. She glanced at the clock on the wall, which read 8:30. It was later than she usually got up on Saturdays. Saturday mornings at the Brody's she did a couple loads of laundry and cleaned the bathrooms. That way Mrs. Brody never complained about her going to the gym. She even shoved a couple fives or a ten to her before she would leave most days. But this wasn't like most days. Last night has changed everything. Last night she had said far more than she ever intended to say. Last night she had lost another place to live. Skye felt the tears run down her cheeks and brushed them away with her hand. She heard someone walking in the hallway and stop at her door. There was a pause, then a soft knock. 

"Skye, can I come in?" 

Skye's eyes shot wide. What was Miss Carter doing here? 

"Skye?"

Skye wiped at eyes furiously, and then got out of bed. She walked over to the door and opened it. Miss Carter was standing there with a bag.

"Hey. I brought some of your stuff. Some clean clothes in here." She held the bag out to Skye. "I went to the Brody's before coming here and just grabbed a few things I thought you would need for now. I can get the rest later today or tomorrow." 

Skye took the bag and stood there looking at Miss Carter. 

"So um, Melinda said you could take a shower, and change and then come on down for breakfast. She said the bathroom across the hall has fresh towels and you can use whatever soap and shampoo that's there if you want. Oh and she has a new toothbrush laying on the counter."

Skye nodded. She paused and then spoke softly. "So where are you taking me then? 

"Uh no where. Not taking you anywhere. At least not today. You are staying here for now. The Coulsons are licensed as temporary foster caregivers. That's the order we have you under right now. I informed the Brody's you would no longer be staying with them."

Skye stared at Miss Carter. "Oh. Okay. So you just came to bring my stuff?"

"Well that, and I need to talk to you. And to the Coulsons. But for now, Melinda said to let you get cleaned up and eat breakfast. She's very persuasive."

Skye snorted. "You think?" 

Sharon watched closely as Skye almost grinned and seemed to relax. "So she also said her husband makes the best choc chip Pancakes so if you want some you better hurry."

Skye smiled as she watched Miss Carter walk away. She rummaged through the bag, finding clothes and then grabbed them and walked across the hall to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, Skye walked into the kitchen, the aroma of food making her stomach rumble. Donnie and Miss Carter were seated at the table. Mr C was standing at the stove flipping pancakes, and Miss May was pouring orange juice. She looked up as Skye walked in flashing her a smile.

"Orange juice okay Skye?"

Skye nodded. "Fine." 

"Good. How'd you sleep?"

Skye nodded. "Good. I don't usually sleep this late."

"Hey Skye."

Skye turned to the voice and smiled. "Hey Donnie."

"Hey sit here." He patted the chair next to him. "Man you are in for a treat. Best pancakes ever." 

Skye moved to the table and slid into the chair. "Yeah so I heard." 

Mr. C brought over a plate of pancakes and put them on the table. He was wearing a Minnie Mouse apron. A pink Minnie Mouse apron. Skye raised her eyebrows at him. Phil grinned at her. 

"Present. From my wife."

"Oh please Phil. You lost the bet. Stop lying to the girl." 

"You know I lost on purpose right?" 

Melinda just rolled her eyes. "Just put the bacon on the table."

Phil saluted her and went back to the stove. Melinda set down the juice glasses in front of everyone and then sat down. 

"So dig in guys. There are more pancakes coming, right Phil?" 

"Yes ma-am." 

Skye giggled as she put two pancakes on her plate. She watched as Donnie piled his plate with five pancakes. She raised her eyebrow at him. 

"What? They are amazing." 

Skye dug in unaware of the fact that Sharon Carter was watching everything carefully. Sharon noted the comfort the little group seemed to have with each other. She was calculating how she could convince this amazing couple to take both these foster kids in permanently. She watched as Phil brought over the bacon and as both kids grabbed for it, playfully sword fighting each other with their forks, and watched as Melinda's face smiled with fondness as she watched the exchange. She was impressed with how happy Donnie was. He was talking and animated and seemed to be right at home in this household. Skye as well, appeared to genuinely like both Mr. and Mrs. Coulson and she already knew the close connection Skye had with Donnie. Sharon ate her breakfast, and yes they were very good pancakes; while she observed this new little family and she formed a plan just how to help make that happen. 

After breakfast, Skye insisted on helping with the cleanup. Phil went upstairs to shower, while Donnie went to the living room to watch some TV. Sharon stayed at the table nursing her coffee. Skye was rinsing dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, while Melinda was putting things away and wiping off stovetops and counters. Melinda has turned on her I-pod and speaker and Elton John was cranking out of it while both Skye and Melinda sang along. Sharon tapped her foot to the music, debating how to start the unavoidable conversation she needed to have with Skye. As she saw them finishing up she spoke up. 

"Skye I need to talk to you about what happened last night."

Skye froze. Melinda glanced up, her eyes meeting Sharon's and then she turned to Skye. Skye was looking at the floor and was perfectly still. 

"Skye I know you may not want to do this but we have to. I need to hear from you what happened,. I have the police report and everyone's statements. Except yours."

Melinda spoke up as well. "Why don't you go into the family room. You will have privacy there."

At that Skye looked at Melinda nearly panicked. "Can you please come with?" Skye looked at Sharon. "I'd like Miss May to be there." 

Sharon nodded. "If she wants to I have no problem with that. But I do need to hear everything in your words Skye. You need to talk to me."

"Okay. I'll try."

Skye and Sharon followed Melinda out the door past the living room and into a large room filled with entertainment items. Three of the walls were lined with shelves filled with books, comic books, video games and DVD's. In the far right, was a pool table, while the center boasted of a huge entertainment area with a large TV. On the left was a sofa, and a few reclining chairs. Melinda sat down on the sofa and Skye sat next to her. Sharon sat on one of the comfortable chairs. 

"I know this is difficult to talk about Skye, but I need to know what happened last night and I need to know what you know about the boy who was hurt. And what happened to you. " 

"Will Daniels." 

"Yes. Will Daniels. He is expected to be okay by the way. I spoke to the police earlier today."

"I know. Mr. C's sister told us too. I'd like to see him." 

"I'll call the hospital later and see if he is allowed visitors and when would be the best time to go." Melinda smiled at Skye assuring her.

Skye nodded. "Thanks." She turned to face Sharon. "So I'm staying here for awhile?"

"Yes. As I said the Coulsons have agreed to be your temporary foster home. As your social worker, I think that is in your best interest for now. Skye. please tell us what happened last night." 

"What about Ryan and Thomas? I'm afraid for them more than for me."

Sharon answered her. "I talked to Bobbi last night and this morning Skye. Ryan stayed the night at Lincoln's. And Lincoln dropped off Thomas at a friend's house. Lenny or something like that."

"Leo. Leo Fitz."

"Yeah right. Leo."

"Okay. But what happens to them now? Today?" 

"We aren't sure yet Skye. I asked both of them to meet at the police precinct to talk. Bobbi and Hunter are taking charge of the investigation of Will's assault. We want to talk to everyone also about what has been going on in the school."

"Why? Why now? Why not when Leo had his arm broken, or when that girl was raped, or when Thomas was injured? " 

Melinda sucked in a sharp breath. She glanced at Sharon who shrugged at her. 

"Honestly Skye I don't think any of us know about any of those things. Who was raped?"

"Joey Gutierrez's cousin. She named the suspects, one of them being Grant Ward, and no one believed her. Everyone at the school says there were more victims. And I saw Grant Ward hurt Thomas. And Ryan has been threatened numerous times by JJ and Grant."

"Skye if all that is true, we need to know everything. We need you kids to tell us everything. You can start by telling me exactly what happened last night. And after that tell me everything that Grant Ward and JJ Brody and the others have done to you. Tell me who has threatened you. And the others need to do the same when they talk to the police. And you will need to make a statement with the police as well." 

"Maybe it would be best to just do that then Miss Carter. Take Skye to the station and have Bobbi hear Skye's statement. You could be present as well. That way Skye only needs to say it once. Bobbi could call everyone involved and have them all come to the station as soon as possible." 

"I thought they gave statements last night." 

"They did Skye. But only about the incident with Will. That's actually a good idea Mrs. Coulson. Skye could make her statement about last night and also about anything else that would help the case or anything else we should know.

"Skye are you okay with that?" Melinda turned to Skye waiting for her answer. 

Skye was chewing on her bottom lip. "I'm not sure. Every time I say anything, someone else gets hurt or threatened."

"That's why you need to talk to them Skye. This has to stop. Before more people get hurt."

"But there's no proof Miss May. It's my word against theirs. No one ever sees anything, or is willing to say anything. Ward, JJ and Miles and the others, they can get away with anything. They protect each other. And some of the teachers protect them. And parents."

"Well looks to me like you and your friends are protecting each other now too. That you will back each other. The simplest way to protect everyone Skye, is to tell the truth."

Skye shook her head. "That's not true. Not always. Not for me. People don't believe people like me."

"I do. And I will. And so will she and so will the police." 

"And JJ will say I'm lying. No one else heard or saw anything. Thomas says they never do. And if JJ knows I talked to the police, he could hurt Ryan. And if you accuse Grant of anything, he'll hurt Thomas. I've seen what Thomas's brother can do, and I've seen what he is capable of. I won't be responsible for him getting hurt again. For anyone getting hurt."

"Again?" 

Skye sat back in the sofa and crossed her arms. 

"You know that Thomas and Ryan are both safe right now. And I'm going to initiate investigations into both homes under these allegations that JJ and Grant are threats to them." 

"Do they know that?"

"Thomas does. I still need to talk to Ryan and get him to come to the station. Thomas is already planning to come. Leo's mother is bringing Leo and Thomas there some time this morning for their statements. Thomas does not want to go home. He will most likely be put into protective custody and we will find a temporary home for him. He mentioned he could live with his older sister when I spoke to him this morning. She is apparently estranged from her parents."

"I don't know."

"Skye. I know this is hard. But you need to speak up. Set things in motion."

"I tried that Miss Carter. And look at what happened to Will. Look at what happened to Jemma and Thomas in gym class. And Thomas after the cafeteria. And Ryan. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."

"Skye. It's not your fault."

"I pushed it. I pushed everyone to fight back. Now they are getting hurt. And nothing will change. The more I pushed the harder they pushed back. They could have killed Will."

"Yes they could have. And maybe next time they will kill someone. That's why you have to talk to the police. So they can put a stop to all this."

'She's right Skye. What's done is done. Now you have to push forward." Melinda got up and held out her hand. "Come on. I'll go with you. You can talk to Bobbi. Then let her figure out the next step. One step at a time." 

Skye took the offered hand and let Melinda pull her up. "Okay. I'll try." 

 

About an hour later Skye was sitting in an office at the police station. Melinda was there along with Bobbi and Isabelle Hartley, and Sharon Carter. Skye insisted Melinda remain or she said she wouldn't talk to anyone. Bobbi sat down across from Skye. 

"So okay since I was actually there at the soccer field last night, I know some of what happened and saw the aftermath of what happened to Will. But I need you to tell me everything that happened that you think may be relevant to this case. How about we start with why you ran to a place in the school you were not supposed to be and why you were so upset?"

Skye looked at her sneakers as her hands locked into fists. The silence grew longer. Melinda flashed Bobbi a concerned look and was about to talk to Skye, when Skye sighed and unclenched her fists. She spoke so softly that Bobbi moved to lean in more to hear her. 

"I got cold in the stands and decided to get some hot chocolate to warm up. I probably should have asked someone to go with me. We've been doing that in school and stuff. Trying not to be alone." 

At that Bobbi's eyebrow raised but she kept quiet hoping the girl would continue without prompting. Skye took a deep breathe and spoke again. 

"I was standing with my hot chocolate and I noticed that some kids were getting loud and causing a commotion and the ladies working the stand turned toward them. It was Rhaina and Miles and couple of their friends. That's when he stepped up behind me and spoke." 

Skye stopped talking and after a few moments Bobbi spoke to her urging her to continue. "Please tell us who he was and what he said."

Skye stayed silent and Melinda noticed her fists both clenching again. She could see the impatience practically dripping off of Bobbi as she struggled to go slow. 

"Ward." It was barely a whisper, but they all heard it in the quiet room. "Grant Ward." 

The fists unclenched as Skye then folded her hands together tightly. She took a deep breathe and then the words came tumbling out. She relayed what Ward said to her, how he pushed his body into hers, how he threatened her. She said how JJ came up and what he said. Skye had shut her eyes and her fingers were digging into her hands. Melinda reached over to slowly pull Skye's hands apart grasping her own hands into Skye's to try and ground her. Skye was shaking and her breathing had become erratic. Izzy shut off the recorder. 

"Skye. Hey you need to take a deep breath. Okay? Come on. Just like Tai Chi. Here follow along with me. Breathe in and hold, 2 and 3 and 4, let out the breathe 2, 3,4. And again."

Melinda found Skye complying with what she said but her eyes were still shut tightly and her hands now tightly gripping Melinda's. 

"Skye do you know what a coping mechanism is?" 

Melinda closely watched Skye continuing to breathe deeply with her. She wasn't sure if Skye had heard her or not. She tried again. 

"Skye were you ever taught techniques to cope with panic attacks?" 

Skye's eyes opened as she glanced around the room, her breathing once again getting erratic. Melinda noted Skye was starting to shake and sweat pooled on her skin. Still her hands were cold to the touch. Skye's eyes darted around the room finally resting on Melinda. 

"I don't feel good." 

"Okay. That's okay Skye. How about we walk to the restroom?" 

"I think I'm gonna throw up." 

Melinda got up and then pulled Skye up as well. She pulled her gently toward the door and walked down the short hallway to the family restroom. Melinda opened the door and Skye rushed in. Skye moved to the opposite wall and sank down against it, sitting on the floor between the sink and the toilet. Melinda closed the door and simply leaned back against it, folding her arms in front of her and keeping an eye on the girl. Skye pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head against them. Her breathing was still uneven.

"Hey Skye. Breathe in deep through your nose, hold for 5 seconds and then breathe out. Follow along with me." Melinda sat on the floor, her back against the door and took in a deep breathe, exaggerating the noise. Skye lifted her head and followed along. After a few minutes, Skye had stopped shaking and her breathing back to normal. She leaned her head back against the wall, shutting her eyes. Melinda decided to try something. 

"My favorite color is green."

Skye glanced at her, then closed her eyes again. But she also responded. "Blue."

"My favorite wild animal is the cheetah."

"Pandas."

"My favorite sport to watch is baseball."

"Soccer." 

"My favorite type of food is Italian." 

"Chinese. Sesame Chicken." 

"Mushroom Ravioli or Veal Marsala." Melinda waited a beat. "Sausage and Mushroom Pizza."

"Hawaiian." 

"Elton John."

Skye smiled. She opened her eyes. "Ed Sheeran."

Melinda raised her eyebrows and frowned. Skye gave her a half grin. 

"Skye, didn't you see someone for your panic attacks? Someone who could help you?" 

"What? Like a shrink?" Skye's small grin faded.

"Yeah. A psychiatrist."

Skye looked at the floor. She shook her head. "Don't like um."

Melinda walked over to Skye and offered her hand. "How about we head back. Someone might actually have to use the bathroom." 

Skye rolled her eyes and took Melinda's hand. Melinda pulled her up. "Seriously though, I may know a really good psychiatrist." 

Skye walked through the doorway shaking her head. "Seriously I hate shrinks."

Izzy looked up from the chair she was sitting in as Melinda and Skye walked back in. Bobbi and Sharon were not there.

"Um so where'd Bobbi and Sharon go off to?" 

At that moment Bobbi flew into the room just stopping short in front of Melinda. Her expression was close to one of panic. Which put Melinda immediately on edge since Bobbi basically never panicked. 

Izzy jumped up. "Did you find him?" 

At that Skye's eyes grew wide as she turned to Melinda. Melinda tried to keep a steady voice. 

"What's going on Bobbi?" 

Bobbi glanced at Skye and shook her head. "Hey Skye, we are going to have to continue this conversation later. Okay? At least we have your statement on what happened last night along with the others. Mel you can take home back to your place."

Skye looked around at the adults. "What's going on? Why do you want me to leave so badly? I thought you wanted me to tell you about the other stuff?" 

"Um yeah well, something came up. We have to investigate a call. We'll do a rain check later. Izzy we need to go now." 

Izzy started walking toward Bobbi who had turned to leave when Hunter rushed in to the room. 

"Found him. Vic tracked him down. He's at a hospital called Four Winds. It's about 40 miles from here. A doctor signed him in and the lawyers are blocking everything."

Skye had turned her phone back on and it was going off. She checked it and there were many texts and messages from Fitz and Ryan and Jemma. 

"Thomas." 

Melinda looked at her and then at Hunter and Bobbi. "What the hell is going on?" 

"It's Thomas. They locked him up." Skye's voice broke as she sank to her knees. 

Melinda glanced at Izzy who was talking into her phone frantically, and then looked to Bobbi who nodded. 

"Fitz's mother called right after you two left saying Thomas never came to the house last night. We talked to Lincoln who said he dropped him off but had not seen him go in. Fitz said he got a text saying from Thomas saying he was going to Lincoln's after all. No one thought anything till Izzy called Fitz and reminded him and Thomas to come to the station. I guess they tried to get a hold of him all morning figuring it was a miscommunication until the neighbor said she saw a boy being escorted struggling to a car, and a man waved her off saying he had a court order and actually showed it to her. She said the man said the boy was dangerous and delusional and needed treatment."

Melinda heard the sob and rushed to Skye's side. 

"This is all my fault." 

Melinda put her hand on Skye's shoulder to reassure her. She looked at Bobbi." How'd you find out where he is?" 

"I called Vic and asked her to check all the records. She has some powerful friends, you know that. Her security firm reaches across the entire state and even beyond."

"So what do we do now?" Hunter looked at Izzy. 

She shrugged her shoulders. "He's underage. His parents are his legal guardians. We can't do anything."

"We can make sure Thomas has an advocate." Sharon Carter walked into the room and spoke after hearing Izzy's comment. She glanced at Skye who had stood up with Melinda's arm across her shoulder. "I have already contacted the right authorities and plan to visit Four Winds. Could use some backup. 

"Bloody hell yes. Count me in." Hunter nodded at Sharon. 

"Yeah me too. Hunter and I will drive you out there. Meanwhile, we need to move on investigating the assault on Will Daniels. Izzy, can you take point on that and bring in a few more people. Anyone who has some free time. We need to investigate this entire thing. Skye I need you to stay and talk to Izzy and the others. I want your friends all back here and I want a run down on every single incident that involved the older Ward boy and his friends. Izzy, call Vic and have her bring her niece here. Everyone who was at the assault last night too. Hunter call Lincoln and have him come in and that boy, um , Fitz too."

"On it." Izzy walked out of the room already on her phone. 

Melinda sat Skye down on the nearest chair. "Hey look. This is not your fault. Things are in motion now. We are going to fix this Skye. You are not going to need to be afraid and neither are your friends. We will protect you. All of you." 

Bobbi walked over to Skye and Melinda. She knelt down and spoke to Skye. "She's right. We know something is not right. Skye, there are a few things going on here that are not making sense right now. But we will get to the bottom of it all. I need you and your friends to help by just telling the truth, okay?" 

Skye nodded. 

"Good girl." Bobbi squeezed her shoulder and got up. Melinda stepped in front of her. 

"What else is going on Bobbi?" 

"What do you mean?" 

Melinda gave her a pointed look. 

Bobbi sighed. "Let's just say there are other agencies really interested in the Wards and Brody's and somehow everything is always connected. You know that from your experiences. It's just........well a lot of it is classified." She turned to Hunter. "Let's check out and then get over to that facility. You ready Miss Carter.?" 

"Call me Sharon, and yes I've cleared it with my superiors." She tucked her phone back in her purse and moved to leave the room. She turned to Skye. "Skye we will get to the bottom of all this. What happened to Thomas is not your fault and if you truly want to help him, tell the police everything about this, Thomas, his brother and what you know." 

Skye swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "I will." 

Izzy watched the three leave and then turned to Melinda and Skye. "So Skye tell me about the gym incident. I do believe that Jemma may have left a few things out of that story."

Skye muddled through telling Izzy about the things that had happened the last few weeks since she had moved in with the Brody's. It was tough going at times as Skye had to be encouraged and waited on patiently to speak up. Finally after talking about how she had defended herself from Seth Dormer and how the other kids had rallied behind her, it was almost noon. Izzy shut off the recorder. 

"Okay that's it for now. We will take your statements and the others from everyone else and compare everything." 

Melinda got up and motioned for Skye to do so as well. "Let's grab some lunch. I'll call the hospital and see if Will can have visitors. Come on Skye. See you later Izzy."

"Okay. Yeah I sent Scott and Mack to the hospital to get the boy's statement. Hopefully he saw who attacked him, or can at least give us information we can use. They should be back soon." 

"Maybe Jemma could come along. I know she's here, she texted me that her aunt was bringing her a while ago."

"Okay, we can check if she is done with her statement. If she is, I'm sure Vic would okay that. The others were all supposed to be here too. I have over half the precinct set aside to take statements from everyone."

Izzy led the way as Melinda and Skye followed out the door and down the hallway. They came to the wait area where Skye saw Jemma sitting quietly while Victoria was standing in the far corner talking on her phone. Jemma got up when she saw Skye enter and practically ran to her. She looked disheveled and slightly panicked. She embraced Skye.

"I'm so glad to see you!" 

"Yeah me too. To see you." Skye pulled away but grabbed fro Jemma's hand. "I'm sorry. I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

"No, no this is not your fault Skye. We all agreed to step up. To speak up and to stop letting people control us." 

Victoria walked slowly over to Melinda and Izzy. She looked angry. 

"Have you talked to Elena?"

Izzy answered. "No should we?" 

"Yes. Come on. Jemma, you and Skye stay here. I'll be back soon."

Jemma nodded and she led Skye to sit on the sofa. The three women left the room. 

"What was that about Jems?" 

Jemma looked at her sadly. "No one else has come in to give their statements. Not Darcy, Ace, Fitz, Ryan, or Kate. Just me and you. And Vic said that Will said he didn't see anything. So no one else is talking, and Thomas is gone, and it's back to square one."

Skye rubbed her temples and than pushed her hair back, resting her hands on the back of her head. She bit her bottom lip and looked over at Jemma.

"They got to them. Somehow, someway, they made them all afraid again."

"Yes that's what I fear happened as well. I tried texting Fitz but he won't answer. Neither will Kate."

"Ryan won't either."

"I told the officer everything I know Skye. About Fitz getting beat up, the threats, what happened in gym class, what I saw in the cafeteria when Ward threatened you. She recorded it all. I told Aunt Vic too. She got kind of mad for me not saying anything sooner. I told them everything Skye."

"Yeah but it's your word against them. Yours and mine."

And we back each other up Skye. That has to mean something, The truth has to mean something. Right?" 

"Skye smiled and pulled Jemma into a hug. "It does Jem. It means the world to me. Thank you."

Jemma sighed. "But they still have nothing. No proof. And no one will speak up. Again."

"Maybe Will didn't see anything Jemma." 

Jemma shook her head. "You know they make it personal. They want you to know who it was while also laughing at you knowing it won't matter. Even if is was JJ who beat him , or Grant, or Miles, they will all have alibis. And they never leave evidence. I can't believe that Leo did not come."

"I know."

Melinda and Victoria entered the room. The girls looked up. 

"Jemma we are going. I need to stop by my office for some files."

"Skye we are leaving as well." 

Skye squeezed Jemma's hand. "Thanks Jemma. I'll call you later." 

"Yeah okay. Tell Will I said high and will be over to see him .......um ..." she looked at her aunt. 

"This evening. Ill take you later on." 

Jemma smiled. "Tell him that okay. Don't be to mad at him Skye."

"Yeah I get it." 

Victoria and Jemma left, and Melinda turned to Skye. She looked angry but Skye could tell she was trying to mask it for her. 

"Come on. We'll stop by the hospital and than head home for lunch." 

"Do you know anything more about Thomas?" 

"No not yet. But I told Bobbi to call with any news." Melinda's voice grew softer. "I know this all is overwhelming. But hey Skye," Melinda lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. "This is not the end of all this. This, this is just a setback. We are going to..... I, I will help this to be better. You are not alone. Okay?" 

Skye's throat grew tight as she felt a tear escape. Melinda pulled her into a hug. Skye clung to her tightly allowing herself to be comforted. After a moment, she pulled away. Melinda wiped her tears away with her thumbs and gave her a weak smile. 

"Come on. Let's go see your friend." 

Melinda turned into the driveway of her home and shut off the car. Skye had been quiet the whole way home. When they had gotten to the hospital, Will's mother had not let Skye or Melinda in his room. She said he was resting and overwhelmed and they should wait till he was home to visit. Skye had simply walked away devastated and defeated. She had returned to the car and simply looked forlornly out the window on the drive back home. Skye just sat there still looking out the window. 

"Hey Skye. We're home."

At that Skye turned to look at Melinda, and gave her a sad smile. "Not mine. I've never had one of those." She opened the door and got out, walking up the driveway and into the house leaving Melinda sitting there speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where exactly is Thomas? What made the other kids back out? Fitz has some explaining to do. Can Skye move forward with Melinda's help? Stay tuned.


End file.
